Commercial Regatta

Apr 06, 2025

Racing began bright and early on this 2nd day of racing in Islandbridge, but CIRC's first race wasn't until 10:44.
The sleep-in was good for our rowers - in our first race of the day, our Women's J14 coxed quad won their straight final against Enniskillen by 2 lengths.
Later, we watched our J14 Men's Double outclass Waterford in a straight final.
This was soon followed by a win for our 3rd years, in the Women's J15 quad, who proved too quick for their competition, an impressive crew from Sligo.
CIRC's Men's J14 coxed quad was successful against Enniskillen in their final.
And in the club's last race of the day - another Women's coxed quad, this time crewed by our 2nd years - won by four lengths against Waterford.

There were also a number of near misses, that might have added to the medal tally, had things gone differently, during those races.
In an all-Galway final, CIRC's J15 Men's quad were unlucky, finishing behind St. Josephs by a canvas, in an exciting finish.
The MJ14 coxed quad and Womens J18 coxless quads both finished 2 lengths behind the ultimate winners of their categories.

This event provided an opportunity for two of our 3rd-year and two of our 4th-year women to race in a single sculls for their first time - in time trials. These were scheduled immediately after a WJ15 quad race, which meant that the 2 third years, Izzy Howley and Sophie Ryder, literally had to jump out of their J15 quad and straight into singles, to be in time for the J16 time-trial. There was a strong wind, blowing them up the course, which meant for an easy row up to the start line, but a hard race to come, with very little time to rest muscles that were already tired from their win in the quad - especially for Izzy, who was the 5th sculler in the draw for the J16 category (whereas Sophie, at number 17, had precious extra minutes to recover from their previous race and mad dash back to the start line).
4th years Aoibheann Ní Dhonaill and Olivia Finnerty didn't have a race immediately before their time trials, but deliberately delayed going to the start line, so that the other girls would not seem to be so late. They must have had very little time to wait, once they got up to the start, because they were seen coming around the corner, to the finish line, surprisingly soon after we watched them slip, and head up towards the start line.
All four young rowers did remarkably well, making their club proud by battling first-time nerves, and strong headwinds to post impressive times, relative to all their competition.

As usual, the conduct, behaviour, camaraderie, co-operation and work ethic, exhibited by the CIRC rowers, all weekend, was exemplary - and this was not lost on any the coaches or parents who attended the event. The combination of relaxed teamwork, sunny weather, many successes of CIRC crews and individuals, and the friendly atmosphere in two extremely well-organised events, made for an extremely enjoyable weekend of rowing for all.
Many thanks to everyone involved - to the host clubs, and also to all the CIRC coaches, volunteers, parents-on-duty, and especially the rowers themselves, who, once again, made their club (and school) proud.

Other Photographs


More images are available View Images