Successful season for New Ross Boat Club
VICTORIES BY CLUB TEAMS AND MEMBERS AT NATIONAL EVENTS
IT has been a busy and successful season for New Ross Boat Club’s teams, with numerous memorable days competing against the country’s finest.
New Ross man Luke Sutton has proven his mettle on the national scene, along with several team members.
The club’s summer camp took place in August with great success. 20 children aged between 12 and 18 took part in the three-day camp which saw them learn the basics of rowing through both land and water training.
The weather was not as favourable as in other years but this didn’t stop the children enjoying a great three days learning a new sport. A large number of the camp participants have joined the club after the camp and now start their winter training with the club’s athletes.
The annual Barrow challenge took place in September which saw 50 crews from all over Ireland compete in this 18km endurance row from St Mullins to New Ross. Club PRO Janet Walsh said: ‘ This was a very successful event for the club in perfect rowing conditions.’
New Ross Mens Junior 18 4x crew of Webb, Harrigton, Harrigton and Ferguson were the fastest crew on the day in a time of 1:02:24. UCD’s Andrew Goff was the fastest sculler home in a time of 1:04:23.
There were three club entries in the Off Shore Rowing Championships - which took place in Arklow in September. It was a first for the club to have three entries. The men’s double team of Andrew Breen and Peter Doyle took gold in the men’s category beating nine other crews. A few weeks later Andrew and Peter competed in the world rowing championships which were held in Thonon, France. The New Ross crew competed against a very strong field making the B final where they came an impressive 11th place. This was a great achievement for the double in their second world championships.
All crews have now started into their long hard winter training. Due to the growth of the club in the last year there are now six groups training on the water every week.
‘ This is mainly down to the dedicated coaches and volunteers who give up their time to ensure these athletes get the best training to be able compete against the best clubs in the country.’
Luke Sutton of New Ross Boat Club was successfully selected to represent Ireland at this year’s Home International Regatta which was held at Strathclyde, Scotland. Luke was chosen to race in the Men’s Lightweight Double category, racing on the day with Michael McNamee of Queens University Boat Club. He was selected due to his good form, especially at the Cork Regatta coming second in the lightweight men’s category.
Luke, son of Sean And Fiona Sutton, has been rowing with New Ross Boat Club since 2014 and this year his hard winter training work paid off in spades. Before heading off to Scotland Luke represented New Ross Boat Club at the Irish Rowing championships which was held at The National Rowing Centre.
The club recently competed at the Carlow Regatta which was held over two days. On the Saturday there were narrow second places for J18 sculler Ben Webb and the J18 Double of Ben Webb and Donal Harrigton both unlucky to win their events. The Sunday events saw a large number of medals come New Ross way with wins for the J14 W4x+ of Ella O Hanlon, Amy Barrett, Aoibhin Slater and Jane Sutton coxed by Jim Malone.
There were wins in the single sculls for Ronan Gibbon, Ellie O Hanlon, Amy Barrett and brian Stafford. The women’s J14 Double of Amy Barrett and Aoibhin Slater finished the day with a win.