THEY came, they saw and they conquered again.

Skibbereen Rowing Club stamped their class all over the Irish Rowing Championships with a nine-title haul that increased their record tally.

At last year’s nationals, Skibbereen became the first club to break the 200-title barrier, and finished with 204 titles.

Last weekend, Skibb rowers won a combined nine titles to take their total number of championship wins to 213, proving again that the medal factory on the banks of the River Ilen is untouchable in Irish rowing.

Sending a star-studded squad, it was no surprise that Skibbereen’s international rowers led the way.

Olympic bronze medallist Emily Hegarty and international Aisling Hayes won the women's senior double scull. Hegarty and Hayes were joined by club-mate Aoife Casey and Lee Rowing Club’s Margaret Cremen to win the women's senior quad scull title.

Hegarty, Hayes, Casey and Aoife Hendy helped power the Skibbereen/Trinity composite crew, coxed by Skibb’s Orla Hayes, to the women's senior eight title.

Earlier in the championships, Hendy won the lightweight women's single scull.

Unsurprisingly, double Olympic lightweight champion Fintan McCarthy was among the titles. Fintan and Jake McCarthy defended their men’s senior double scull crown, before Fintan also retained his men's senior single scull title, followed home by two more Skibb rowers, Kealan Mannix and Finn O'Reilly.

Mattias Cogan, one of the rising stars in the club, got his hands on three national titles. First, he showed his talent in winning the men's junior 18 single scull. In the junior 18 men's quad scull, Cogan, Sam Wheeler-O'Brien, Ultan Kearney and Desmond Keane came out on top. There was more when Cogan and Sam Wheeler-O'Brien were crowned junior 18 men's double scull champions.

With the domestic season now over, Skibbereen rowers will turn their attention to the international scene with a busy summer ahead.