After a long Winter’s training and with several cancelled events in the rear view mirror Waterford took part in their first race of the new Season on a rare sunny February day in Cork on Saturday 22nd. Cork Head of the River is organised by the various Cork City clubs on The Marina in Cork and always makes for an excellent location for racing. The course was the regular 4.3km time trial from Cork Harbour down to Blackrock Castle. Waterford were rowing out of Shandon this year.
Waterford had 17 entries on the day and also saw 6 of our newer members have their first race. Huge congratulations to Moya, Mykola, Bill, Harry Walsh, Cathal, Lochlan and Padraig for taking part in their first of many events and for giving an excellent account of themselves.
The Club would like to extend their thanks to parents, volunteers and coaches for all their help over the weekend. Special thanks to Mick McGagh for towing the trailer to and from Cork and also to Cormac Power from Greenvolt Next for providing a towing vehicle for the day. It’s hugely appreciated by the club.
Last and certainly not least, thanks to all out athletes for a great effort on the day. It’s been a long hard Winter of training with multiple cancellations along the way so it was great to see everyone back on the water competing, especially our new members. Looking forward to many more great days over the season.
Race report and Results
First up on the day in Fixed Head 1 were the WJ18A 4X- crew of Kate, Sarah, Jessica and Edie who took an excellent 4th place in a very tight race, a mere 14 seconds behind winners Skibbereen.
Next up in Fixed Head 2 was Seán Harte who came 3rd out of 30 in an extremely competitive MJ18A 1X. Brilliant display from Seán.
The next head was the first Rolling Head and saw our younger J14 and J15 crews take to the water. The WJ15 4X+ crew of Amelie, Moya, Hannah and Sofia with cox Faye put in a fine display with Moya making her debut and 2 of the girls stepping up from their J14 category.
For the first time we had three MJ14 4X+ crews take part in the same category. First up were the Waterford B crew of Leon, Hugh, Maksym and Toby who placed 7th overall in their category. Later in the day in the 2nd rolling head Waterford A took to the water with Hugh, Leon, Padraig and Cathal finishing just 10 seconds behind their clubmates. A great performance as both Cathal and Padraig were making their debuts. Last and certainly not least were our youngest crew of Waterford C with Toby, Harry Walsh, Lochlan and Hayden with three of the lads making their debut. The lads made a great effort and are also the stars of the photograph of the day seen below.
The MJ15 4X+ crew of Bill, Seán Fitz, Sam, Tadhg and cox Harry Grant put in a decent performance taking 5th out of 17 just 38 seconds behind winners Galway. Congratulations to Bill taking part in his first race.
The MJ18 2X pair of Darragh and Henry took part in the rolling head as a timed only boat.
Fixed Head 3 saw 3 of our WJ18A 2X crews and one WJ16 2X crew take part. In the WJ18A 2X category some of closest racing of the whole event took place. The Waterford B crew of Edie and Katie placed 3rd overall a mere 4 seconds from the win. Great display from the girls. Next out of the blocks were Waterford A (Kate and Sarah) who finished 6th overall just 23 seconds down and then the Waterford C crew of Deirdre and Jessica just a few seconds back from them. A great showing from all three crews who were racing together in these combinations for the first time.
The WJ16 2X crew of Rachel and Faye unfortunately had multiple problems with a loose seat which forced them to stop mid race 4 times. Despite this they still came home with a very respectable time and based on their singles results later on, would surely have been pushing for the win in this race had they not had technical problems.
Fixed Head 4 saw our MJ16 4X+ crew competing (Colm, Mykola, John Brady and Harry Grant with cox Tadhg). Special mention here to Mykola who was taking part in his first race and John Brady who stepped in from the MJ15 crew. Well done Mykola, great to get that first race under the belt.
In Fixed Head 5 we had three entries in the WJ16 1X, Faye, Rachel and Hannah. The girls put on a great show and finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th overall. This was even more impressive as Faye and Hannah were rowing in an older age category as there was no WJ15 1X this year. Great performance from the girls carrying on their good form from last season.
Last but not least in Fixed Head 6 were the MJ18 2X crew of Darragh and Gosha who pipped the Waterford A crew from earlier in the day. No doubt to counter-claims of faster tides in the afternoon.
Again, well done to all of out athletes and we look forward to our regatta season starting in Commercial Regatta on 6th April.
| Category | Crew | Head | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WJ18 4X- | Kate Lemon, Sarah Power, Edie O’Flaherty, Jessica Cooke | 1 | 4th | 13:38.0 |
| MJ18A 1X | Seán Harte | 2 | 3rd | 14:13.6 |
| WJ18 2X | Edie O’Flaherty, Katie Fitzpatrick | 3 | 2nd | 13:38.9 |
| WJ18 2X | Kate Lemon, Sarah Power | 3 | 6th | 13:58.5 |
| WJ18 2X | Deirdre McHugh, Jessica Cooke | 3 | 12th | 14:32.2 |
| WJ16 2X | Rachel Weldon, Faye O’Flaherty | 3 | 5th | 15:28.8 |
| MJ16 4X+ | Colm Brennan, Mykola Podmarkov, John Brady, Harry Grant | 4 | 8th | 14:16.4 |
| WJ16 1X | Faye O’Flaherty | 5 | 2nd | 15:32.8 |
| WJ16 1X | Rachel Weldon | 5 | 3rd | 15:51.1 |
| WJ16 1X | Hannah Lemon | 5 | 4th | 16:07.0 |
| MJ18 2X | Darragh Ryan, Gosha Shekunov | 6 | 11th | 13:27.9 |
| MJ18 2X | Darragh Ryan, Henry Brady | Rolling | Timed | 14:08.8 |
| MJ14 4X+ | Leon Mullins, Maksym, Hugh Brady, Toby Cooke, Rachel(c) | Rolling | 7th | 15:13.5 |
| MJ14 4X+ | Hugh, Leon, Padraig Phelan, Cathal McCarthy, Sofia(c) | Rolling | 9th | 15:23.6 |
| MJ14 4X+ | Toby, Harry Walsh, Lochlan Cooke, Hayden Scadding, Amelie(c) | Rolling | 11th | 16:46.2 |
| WJ15 4X+ | Amelie Mullins, Moya Carragher, Hannah, Sofia Mullins, Faye(c) | Rolling | 12th | 15:16.5 |
| MJ15 4X+ | Bill Ogilvie, Seán Fitz, Sam O’Neill, Tadhg Hawkins, Harry G(c) | Rolling | 5th | 13:52.2 |
Gallery
