Castleconnell boat club welcomed more than 400 crews to its recently renovated base at World’s End last weekend for the first official competition since the National Championships in July.
The club’s recently constructed boathouse has a capacity for over 50 boats and the old clubhouse, which was badly flooded two years ago, has been flood proofed and renovated for use as a gym, with rowing machines and static bikes.
The club, which was founded over 30 years ago, has continued to see a surge in interest in the sport with membership at an all-time high. With access to one of the finest stretches of rowing water in the country, the club runs regular indoor fitness classes, alongside summer rowing camps for younger members.
Club President Owen Silke commended “We were delighted to see such a great turnout at the first Head of the season, and I would like to thank everyone who contributed. These events take immense amount of planning to be both successful and safe, and I’m proud that we managed to deliver on both. Feedback from all clubs has been overwhelmingly positive and it’s a great way to start the season.”
The Bull and Bears race is becoming an annual highlight of the Castleconnell Head – it takes the eight best pairs of the day and divides them into two eights, for a straight 3K race.
RESULTS:
Men
Fastest crew was Castleconnell/SMRC composite Senior Quad at 10:01 min
Fastest Men’s 8+ Castleconnell A J18 with 10:36
Fastest Junior 4x- was Castleconnell at 10: 54
Fastest Senior Single, Fionan Crowley Castleconnell bc 12:00 min
Fastest Intermediate Single Andrew O’Connor 12:18
Fastest Pair was St Michael’s Intermediate at 11:50.
Fastest Junior 1x Rory O’Neill Castleconnell
Women
Fastest Women’s crew was St Michael’s WJ16 8+ (to) at 11:57
St Michael’s also had the fastest Women’s Quad at 12:25
Fastest Women’s double was Castleconnell
Fastest Junior 18 Norma Silke 14:15. Castleconnell
Georgia O’Brien UL won the Inter single at 13: 25 with Niamh Kiel the fastest junior 13: 42 in the J15 category for Castleconnell.
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