Myross men take national title

Castletownbere men and women’s quad crews take silver

MYROSS men’s quad crew won gold at the Irish offshore rowing championships held in beautiful O’Carroll’s Cove, Caherdaniel, Co Kerry last weekend.  

They took the title that had been held by Courtmacsherry for the past three years.  Castletownbere came second in the final with Cairndhu of Antrim finishing third.

There was another changing of the old guard in the women’s quad final, where Castletownbere, who were reigning Irish champions for the past two years, won silver, having had to give way to an impressive winning Killorglin crew, with Cairndhu again taking bronze.

The other highlight for West Cork crews was in the women’s doubles, where the Castletownshend crew of Eimear Walsh and Sarah O’Mahony finished an impressive second, with Arklow crews taking both gold and bronze. Castletownshend were also the top Cork crew in the mixed double race where Eimear Walsh and Declan Crowley finished fifth.   In the men’s double race, the top Cork crew was Richie Brown and Kenneth McCarthy of Myross finishing fourth, while Declan Crowley and Padraic O’Driscoll of Castletownshend finished sixth.

In the men’s singles, the West Cork trio of Barry Hooper, Albert O’Sullivan Green and Andrew Hurley were just outside the medals, finishing fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, with the title going north to Patrick Boomer of Donegal.  

In the women’s singles, Kilmacsimon’s Laura O’Neill flew the flag for West Cork, finishing fifth, in a category dominated by Arklow who took both gold and silver while Killorglin won bronze.

This event acts as a qualifier, whereby Rowing Ireland awards rankings to crews attending this year’s World Rowing Coastal Championships. These will be held in British Columbia, Canada, in October.