O’Toole a top role model for the kids
WHEN Niall O’Toole arrived in Antrim for the national offshore rowing championships last September, he did not quite know what to expect and reacted to the turbulent weather conditions with a degree of apathy.
‘I fully hoped that the regatta would be called off, due to the extreme weather conditions,’ he wrote in AFLOAT magazine back in October.
‘I looked to other competitors for solace. Instead of being able to gauge their fear, I was met with wide grins and a crazy glint in their eyes; they were unfazed. This was their normal. They were just looking forward to getting amongst it.
‘I’m used to something different. A sterile environment in your own lane, as fast as you can row from A to B over 2km.
‘You train for your own race, your pace and pushes planned down to a T. You have very little to think about on the day, other than executing that race plan.
‘This is one hell of a sport. Chaotic, unpredictable, and exhilarating. It really is the rock ‘n’ roll of rowing. I am completely hooked.’
Niall did not have a background in coastal and offshore rowing, although he was still an established athlete with international pedigree. In 1991, the 50-year-old won gold at the world rowing championships in Vienna, before winning silver at the same championships three years later, in 1994. In addition, Niall represented Ireland at four different Olympic Games, finishing sixth in the men’s lightweight coxless four at the 2004 summer games in Athens.
Despite the silverware he has won over the course of his illustrious career, none of it could prepare him for competing in offshore rowing. He was part of a Wicklow crew that was competing at the offshore championships for the very first time in the club’s history. It was a case of beginners’ luck, as a Wicklow team that also featured Andrew Greene, Peter Doyle, and Tom Stafford came out on top.
‘That was the pinnable of the year and the final race of the year.
‘To become the Irish offshore champions was a tremendous feat for the club when it was our first competitive Regatta at an offshore championship.
‘The guys were very experienced. They knew how to put a crew together. It was a winnable race because of the guys that we had,’ Rob Dunne told the Wicklow People.
It brought to an end a special year for the club that is approaching its 65th birthday.
‘Having picked up 10 medals in domestic competition and five medals at the All-Ireland championships, competing the treble with the offshores represented the cherry on the top of the cake. Being able to win as much as they did and having the presence of a former world champion and Olympian may serve as motivation and inspiration for young rowers who are following in their footsteps.
‘(Niall’s) been a great role model for our younger guys.
‘It is great to be able to tell these kids: ‘lads, if you practice, get out in that boat, do your best, eat properly, and train properly, there is what you can do. You can do the same as that man.’’
‘As I say, that is all you can do. You need to develop through the ranks, bring the kids through, and give them an outlet.
‘If they are hungry enough, it is therefor them. We take kids from 10 years of age and they can rise through the ranks.’