WITH the 2026 Rowing Ireland 1km Championships at Lough Rynn in Leitrim cancelled in June due to inclement weather, the country’s U13, U14, U15 and master’s athletes were holding their breath for a re-schedule.
Skibbereen Rowing Club sent a squad of 23 and four master’s rowers in who competed in 21 events over the two day regatta in Leitrim.
The first day of racing started off with a convincing win for the women’s j15 coxed quad of Anna Connelly, Mae Ryan, Una Waugh-O’Brien and Labhaoise McCarthy cox Arianna Doolin.
Followed by a win for the men’s J13 coxed quad of Micheál McCarthy, Olan Courtney, Antoni Pylak and Patrick O’Driscoll, cox Chloe Grant. The junior 15 men were next up in single sculls, with Oscar Ferguson winning his final.
Day two saw more medals with Anna Connolly and Labhaoise McCarthy winning their J15 single finals in style. The girls joined forces later in the day and won the J15 double scull final.
Next up was an emphatic J15 double scull win for Oscar Ferguson and Peter Grant who are becoming names to watch out for in the future!
Skibbereen’ youngest competitors at this event the J13 coxed quad of Lucia Grant, Emily Lupton, Emma McCarthy and Sophia O’Shea cox Liam Lupton were not going to be left out of the medals. This young crew powered down the course for the win in the penultimate race on Sunday.
The race of the weekend has to be awarded to the J15 mixed octuplet, who were bow ball to bow ball with Castleconnell the whole way down the one kilometre course. The Skibbereen took the win on the last surge, by 0.2 of a second for a photo-finish.
Our master’s squad was smaller than usual, with many just returned from the Master’s World Championships in Bled.
Barbara Galvin, Niamh Connolly and Ciara O’Shea joined up with Ciara Lanagan of Shannon, to race a quad scull and double sculls. Kenneth McCarthy and Barbara Galvin raced in a mixed double.
While winning produces the medals at this regatta, second and third place finishes also count, as all clubs compete for the Victor Ludorum Trophy. While every race counts as a huge achievement no matter your placing, throughout the weekend points are accumulated for these first, second and third places, and Skibbereen came second overall, a fantastic result.
RESULTS
First place results:
WJ15 4x+: Anna Connolly, Mae Ryan, Una Waugh O’Brien, Labhaoise McCarthy, cox Arianna Doolin
MJ14 4x+: Micheál McCarthy, Olan Courtney, Antoni Pylak, Patrick O’Driscoll, cox Chloe Grant
MJ15 1x:: Oscar Ferguson
WJ15 1x: Labhaoise McCarthy, Anna Connolly
MJ15 2x: Peter Grant, Oscar Ferguson
WJ15 2x: Anna Connolly, Labhaoise McCarthy
WJ13 4x+: Lucia Grant, Emma McCarthy, Emily Lupton, Sophia O’Shea, cox Liam Lupton
J15 mix 8x+: Peter Grant, Oscar Ferguson, Rayyan Danish, Max O’Donovan, Labhaoise McCarthy, Anna Connelly, Una Waugh O’Brien, Arianna Doolin, cox Ghloe Grant
Second place results for points:
MJ14 8x+: Max O’Donovan, Liam Lupton, Patrick O’Driscoll, Antoni Pylak, Micheál McCarthy, Ryan Zevenbergen, Ewan O’Connell, Olan Courtney, cox Chloe Grant.
MJ15 1x: Rayyan Danish
J13 mix 8x+: Antoni Pylak, Ewan O’Connell, Lucia Grant, Emma McCarthy, Olan Courtney, Micheál McCarthy, Sophia O’Shea, Emily Lupton, cox Anna Connelly
MJ13 1x: Patrick O’Driscoll
MJ15 4x+: Oscar Ferguson, Peter Grant, Max O’Donovan, Rayyan Danish, cox Chloe Grant
WJ15 1x: Una Waugh O’Brien
MJ14 4x+: Ryan Zevenbergen, Patrick O’Driscoll, Liam Lupton, Max O‘Donovan cox Chloe Grant
MJ15 2x: Liam Lupton, Ryyan Danish
WJ15 2x: Una Waugh O’Brien, Mae Ryan
Third place for points:
WJ14 4x+: Marina Lupton, Naomi Keane, Aisling Mc Dermot, Sophia O’Shea cox Labhaoise McCarthy
MJ14 1x: Max O’Donovan
WJ14 2x: Naomi Keane, Marina Lupton
J14 mix 8x+: Marina Lupton, Liam Lupton, Naomi Keane, Olan Courtney, Ryan Zevenbergen, Aisling McDermot, Sophia O’Shea, Ewan O’Connell, cox Chloe Grant
WJ15 1x: Arianna Doolin
