Congratulations to Henry & Gosha Winning the Men’s Junior 18 double sculls at Castleconnell sprints regatta under fabulous blue skies.
Castleconnell Sprint Regatta 2025
Waterford Boat Club Shines at Castleconnell Regatta
Waterford Boat Club travelled to Castleconnell Boat Club Co. Limerick on Saturday 17th April for a fantastic day of racing, greeted by clear blue skies and perfect rowing conditions. With an impressive 32 entries, all Waterford athletes were excited to take on the 5-lane, 500-meter course. Due to the large number of entries, Most races were run as straight finals.
Castleconnell Rowing Club, beautifully located on the River Shannon, benefits from a scenic and calm stretch of water between O’Brien’s Bridge and World’s End—an ideal setting for a day of competitive rowing.
Waterford Boat Club had an outstanding showing, coming away with 14 wins across a busy and successful day. These results are a testament to the hard work and dedication of the rowers, as well as the invaluable support from coaches, families, and volunteers.
Congratulations to all who took part
Limerick Regatta 2025
Race Report
Limerick regatta took place on Saturday 26th April 2025 at O’Briens Bridge in Co Clare. The club had 14 entries on the day. The races are run over over 4 lanes on a 1400 meter course (1000m for J14 and under). Luckily the weather was unseasonably warm and dry and made for a great days racing.
WJ18 4x-
Carrying on their great form this season the WJ18 4X- crew of Kate, Edie, Deirdre and Jessica won their heat to progress to the final where they took on Muckross, St Michaels and Kilorglin
Results
Results with timing from Limerick Regatta 2025 can be found here
| Category | Crew | Place |
|---|---|---|
Gallery
Skibbereen Regatta Apr 2025
Race Report
Skibbereen hosted the first Grand League regatta of the season at the National Rowing Centre (NRC) over the weekend of the 12th/13th April. Waterford Boat Club had a total of 21 entries over the weekend. Grand League races (J16 and older) were raced over 2000 metres, J15 was over 1500m, and J13/J14 over 1000m.
Carrying the great early season form from Commercial last week the club had a very successful and enjoyable outing with 5 overall victories and some excellent 2nd and 3rd places in Grand League events. Here’s a brief summary of the weekend
Saturday (11 Crews)
MJ14 2X (Saturday)
First out of the traps were Toby and Mads in the MJ14 2X. The lads put in a great performance given that this was one of their first double races and after a tricky start got themselves back in to the race and finished strongly. A good performance to build on for next time.
WJ18B 4X+ (Saturday)
Next up were one of the highlights of the weekend. The WJ18B 4X+ crew of Kate, Edie, Deirdre, Jessica and cox Oran took their heat in some style winning their in a time of 7:29 which was also the best time from all three heats. They then went and repeated the feat later in the day to win the A Final by 5 seconds. A fantastic achievement by the crew.
Mens 1X Division 1 (Saturday)
Seán Harte was next out of the traps in the highly competeitive Mens 1X Division 1. Seán placed second in his heat with a very impressive time of 7:29 and was unlucky to miss out on the finals by just a couple of seconds. As Division 1 consists of Senior, Intermediate and Club rowers getting so close to a final was a great result in itself and he placed highly in the MJ18A category carrying on his excellent form.
MJ14 4x+ (Saturday)
The club’s second win of the season day came courtesy of the MJ14 4X+ with Leon, Thomas, Padraig, Toby and Mads coxing. The lads had a brilliant race and won their final by 2 lengths. A remarkable performance from a crew rowing together for the first time. Special mention to Padraig and Thomas who are new to racing but have already secured their second win. A great showing from Mads, who coxed at short notice and brought the boat home. Brilliant to see our younger rowers taking a victory at such an early stage. Great effort lads.
WJ14 4x+ (Saturday)
The WJ4X+ quad of Amelie, Amy, Siri, Sofia and cox Leah were next out. They put in a strong performance after a tough start and finished in fourth with a strong finish.
Mens 2X Division 2 (Saturday)
In a packed field of over 50 boats the Waterford crews of Henry/Oran and Harry/Gosha put in a fantastic performance in the Time Trial finishing 7th and 10th overall and qualifying for the B final. IN the Final the Waterford crews finishing 1st and 2nd with Harry and Gosha pipping Henry and Oran. A brilliant performance by both crews.
WJ18A 4X- (Saturday)
After their success earlier in the day much of the crew from the 4X+ from earlier in the morning were back in the boat for the the Women’s Division 1 4X-. The crew of Kate, Edie, Sarah and Jessica placed 4th overall in the Time trial qualifying for the A final. After an exhausting series of races the girls then went on to take 4th overall in the A Final as well as placing 3rd overall in the WJ18 4X- category. A tremendous effort from all involved after a long tough days of racing.
WJ14 2X (Saturday)
Next out were 2 of our WJ14 2X crews in their debut race in doubles. Amy and Amelie were first out in and despite a boat crossing into their lane at the start they recovered and finished very strongly and placed 4th. In the next heat Sofia and Siri also placed fourth in their final. A good debut and great experience for both crews.
MJ13 4X+ (Saturday)
Our last but by no means least crew of the day were the MJ13 4X+ boat of Cathal, Harry Walsh, Lochlan and Richie with Sofia coxing. This was the crews first race together and after a sluggish start they recovered well and put in a very strong second half of the race to finish 4th. Again, great experience for this young crew and they’ll look forward to their next outing in Limerick.
Sunday (10 Crews)
MJ15 2X (Sunday)
First race of the day was the MJ15 2X with Seán and Tadhg. The lads had some problems from the start but worked their way back into third only to be pipped at the line to finish 4th. They’ll hope to build on this solid performance for their next event.
Mens Div 2 1X (Sunday)
Colm was next out in his first outing in a 2K single. Having raced really well in a very large field with J18’s and Club rowers Colm took 12th place in the very large field of J16 entries. The experience here will stand to him for his next event as he gets used to pacing for the 2K.
MJ15 4X+ (Sunday)
Next out were the MJ15 4X+ crew of Seán, John, Sam and Tadhg with harry Grant coxing. After a problem at the start that saw them three lengths down the crew made their way back through the field to overtake Shannon in the last 100 metres to take the first win of the day. Great performance by the group showing perseverance to come through in the end.
WJ15 1X (Sunday)
Hannah and Faye took to water next in their WJ15 singles. Hannah was in the first final and took an excellent second place with herself and the winner from Methodist well clear of the field. Faye was out two races later and took an excellent win after leading out from the start and building her lead throughout. Great displays from both girls.
WJ15 4X+ (Sunday)
Our WJ15 4X+ crew of Moya, Emily, Leah, Amy and cox Sofia were next out. In a very strong final with boats from Fermoy, Shandon and Muckross. The girls were leading coming into the last 50 meters and were just pipped by Shandon at the line. Nonetheless, this was an excellent display from the girls who’ve just started rowing together as a crew and will be buoyed by a great result here.
WJ15 2X (Sunday)
In one of our larger entries of the weekend the club saw 3 entries in the WJ15 2X category. First out in the seond final Moya and Emily. Unfortunately there was a major problem with the seat from the start of the race and the girls were only able to hobble home, still finishing the race but with only stroke rowing. An unfortunate outcome but hopefully the girls can get a good run at it in there next event.
In the fourth final 2 Waterford crews were drawn against each other. The Waterford A crew of Hannah and Faye added to their earlier good results in the singles were extremely strong in this final and took the victory by several lengths. The Waterford C crew of Leah and Amy were making their debut double together and raced really well finishing 4th in a tight group between 2nd and 4th. Great results all round here for this final.
Womens Div 2 1X (Sunday)
Rachel was next out to take part in the Women’s Div 2 1X. As with Colm earlier this was Rachel’s first 2K race in a single and she performed really well finishing 2nd in her heat. Unfortunately with so many WJ18 and Club entries she didn’t make the finals but an excellent debut at the distance for Rachel.
Mens Div 2 4X+ (Sunday)
To round off the weekend the Men’s J18 4X+ crew of Henry, Oran, Gosha, Harry Whelan and cox Hugh took 2nd place in their A final after being beaten by a whisker by Methodist. A fantastic effort from the crew saw them take another 4 seconds off their heat winning time and putting on one of the most exciting races of the weekend. The crew will go with great confidence into their next event after such a good display.
Summary
A fantastic weekend’s racing saw the club take 5 1st places and numerous 2nd and 3rd in Grand League events. In addition to this we saw lots of great displays from our newer crews and athletes stepping up to 2K races giving great experience. Aside from some fog and a brief window of hail on Sunday the weather was almost perfect all Weeknd.
Compliments to Skibbereen for hosting a brilliantly organised and excellent event.
Special thanks for Liam sourcing a towing vehicle at the last minute and also of course to Mick for doing the towing.
Thanks as always to all the parents, volunteers and coaches for a huge effort over the weekend and most importantly thanks to all of our athetes for the tremendous show put on over the weekend. The long hard Winter training is clearly paying off and we look forward tothe next event at Limerick Regatta on Sat 26th Apr.
Results
| Category | Crew | Place |
|---|---|---|
| WJ18B 4X+ | Kate Lemon, Edie O’Flaherty, Deirdre McHugh, Jessica Cooke, Oran Skinner(c) | 1st |
| MJ14 4X+ | Leon Mullins, Padraig Phelan, Thomas Harpur, Toby Cooke, Mads O’Flynn(c) | 1st |
| MJ15 4X+ | Seán Fitzpatrick, John Brady, Sam O’Neill, Tadhg Hawkins, Harry Grant(c) | 1st |
| WJ15 1X | Faye O’Flaherty | 1st |
| WJ15 2X | Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty | 1st |
| MJ18B 4X+ | Henry Brady, Oran Skinner, Gosha Shekunov, Harry Whelan, Hugh Brady(c) | 2nd |
| WJ15 4X+ | Moya Carragher, Leah Trant, Amelie Mullins, Emily Whelan, Sofia Mullins(c) | 2nd |
| WJ15 2X | Hannah Lemon | 2nd |
| WJ18A 4X- | Kate Lemon, Edie O’Flaherty, Sarah Power, Jessica Cooke | 3rd |
Full official Skibbereen Regatta Results here
Gallery
Commercial Regatta Apr 2025
The traditional opening weekend of the year for regattas normaly takes place in Nepture (Sat) and Commercial (Sun) in Islandbridge in Dublin. The tight winding course down the Liffey makes for a tough challenge for the uninitiated but always results in incredibly exciting racing. The course is a 2 lane 1000m and 1200m stretch of the Leiffey at Islandbridge with J14 and younger using the 1000m course that finishes outside Commercial Boat Club. The 1200m course finishes just past UCD boat club.
J16 and upwards races consist of Quarter finals upwards. Some of the races even have heats before the Quarter Finals
WBC usually use Commercial was our first regatta of the year and after a very successul outing at Cork Head of the River the club entered 27 crews for the day.
The Weather was perfect on the day with blue skys all day long. Given the large amount of entries it’s typically a long day’s racing.
Time Trial 1
The first races of the day for the club took place in in the Time Trial 1 slot. This featured
WJ18 2X – The Waterford A boat of Deirdre and Jessica placed 7th in the time trial. The Waterford B boat of Edie and Katie placed 3rd just 0.2 seconds outside of a place in the final. Great performance from both crews here.
MJ18A 1X – Harry Whelan took an excellent 5th place out of a large field in the MJ18A TT
MJ16 1X – Colm took 6th place in his TT in the MJ16 1X event, again out of a large field
WJ16 4X+
Our first boat to launch on the day (outside of the time trials) would prove to be the busiest. The WJ16 4X+ quad of Molly, Rachel, Hannah, Faye and cox Harry Grant raced Galway in their Quarter Final, winningh that race that put them through to a Semi Final against Shannon A. The girls started their Semi and won comfortable, only for the race to be delared null as the wrong crew had lined up against WBC at the start. As a fresult thew WBC crew had to re-race the Semi Final against the Shannon A crew. Luckily they made their way through the final but because of the mix up and lack of time they had to immediately turn around after their semi and row back up to the start where they would have to immediately race again. The fonal was between Waterford and Shannon B and despite the exertion the Waterford boat took the final win with a great performance. Fantastic effort girls and a hard-earned victory.
WJ18 4X-
Next of our quads on the water were the WJ18 4X- crew of Kate, Edie, Sarah and Jessica not long after their time trials ion the doubles.In their Querter final the girls took on Commercial B and won through by a couple of lengths. In the Semi final they faced Sligo where again they had a great race and took another good win. In the 2nd last race of the regatta the girls took on Beptune in the final and afgter a fantactc effort took the win by 2 lengths. Another great outing for the WJ18 4X crew carrying on their good form from Cork HOTR.
MJ18 4X-
The MJ184X- crew of Henry, Oran, Gosha and Harry Whelan were next to hit the water for their Qurter final against a strong Neptune crew. Despite a great race the lads lost out by a length at the finish but will take heart from a really good performance.
MJ16 4X+
The men’s J16 4X+ crew of Colm, Mykola, Sam, Harry and cox Aine drew Offaly in their heat which they won comfortably to progress to the qurter final. In the QF they drew Athlone and repeated their performance from the heats winning through to the semi-final. In thw Semi Final they faced a strong Neptune crew. After a very close race most of the eay down the course the Neptunre crew pulled clear just before the finish and took the victory by a length. Howeevr it was a good overall performance fro a crew rowing together for the first time.
WJ14 2X
Our first doubles debutants of the day were next out. Siri and Sofia were racing in their first doubles race against Sligo. Commerical is always a really tricky course especially for your first try in a double and iunfortunately the girls got stuck in the reeds which resulted in what was later called a “cooling dip”. Both of the girls were fine and were rearing to go for their quad later in the day.
MJ14 4X+
For the first time Waterford had 3 quads enetred in the MJ14 4X+ category
The Waterford A quad of Leon, Maksym, Padraig, Toby and cox Sofia took a good win over Enniskillen. Special congratulations to Padraig on his debut here
The Waterford B quad of Hugh, Thomas, Jeff, Mads and cox Aine took an excellent 2 length victory over Colaiste Iognaid. Again congrats to our Thoams and Jeff on their debute here
The younger (MJ13) Waterford C quad of Hayden, Cathal, Richie, Lochlan and cox Amelie drew St Josephs in their final and despite a fantastic effort were beaten by St Josephs. Valuable experience for all of the lads in their first regatta. Special thanks to Cathal here who was moved from his original quad to ensure everyone got to race.
MJ14 2X
Commercial was our first opportunity to get our MJ14 doubles racing. For this category we had 4 people out of the three crews making their doubles debuts. A great opportunity for these crews to get experience on what is a very difficult course even for experienced crews
Waterford A – Cathal and Mads – A last minute swap meant Cathal had to jump in to this double. Despite the lads not having rowed together before they made a great effort against Col Iognaid. Great effort for a debut race.
Waterford B – Maksym and Leon – Another debut, this time against Enniskillen A. Anyother good effort with Maksym doing a fine job in bow in his first doubles races but with Enniskillen ultimately taking the win here.
Waterford C – Hugh and Toby – Another new pairing for the doubles got a tough draw against a very strong Shannon crew, but as with the others, a good row giving invaluable experience.
MJ15 2X
We had two crews entered in this category
Waterford A – Bill and John. First time in a double together and JJohn’s first time in bow of a double. Depite a strong row the lads lost to carlow but the experience here was well worth it
Waterford B – Seán and Tadhg were due to race garda in their final but unfortunately the opposing crew weren’t available to start so a the lads got a row-over.
Time Trial 2
WJ16 1X – Molly and Rachel took part in Time Trial 2 in the WJ16 1X event. Rachel took 7th overall and Molly set the fastest time in her time trial to make it through to the final. Unfornately MOlly fell just short in the final but took 2nd overall in a tremendous result.
MJ18A 2X – Waterford A – Darragh and Oran took 7th overall in the time trial qualifying. The Waterford B crew of Henry and Gosha finsihed just ahead of their clubmates in 5th position.
WJ14 4X+
The WJ14 4X+ crew of Amelie, Amy, Siri, Sofia and cox Leah took on Enniskillen in their final and after a close race the girls took a great victory.
WJ15 2X
We had 3 entries in this category
Waterford A – Hannah and Faye. The girls carried on their grea from from the WJ16 4X+ boat to take a comfortable win in their final.
Waterford B – Leah and Amy were out for their first doubles race and drew CGS and despite a good row CGS took then win here.
Waterford C – Moya and Emily. First race for the girls in a double but unfortunately the Col Iognaid crew didn’t turn up for the start so the girls got a row-over.
MJ15 4X+
The MJ154X+ crew of Bill, Seán, John, Tadhg and cox Harry took on Neptune in their final. The lads got off to a very strong start and never looked back taking the win comfortably.
WJ15 4X+
The newly formed WJ15 crew of Moya, Emily, Leah, Amelie and cox Sofia were next on the water to take on a very strong Colaiste Iognaid A crew. The girls rowed a very strong race but had some technical issues on 2 occasions during thre race and despite catching up both times Colaiste Iognoid managed to pull clear at the end. A great performance from the girls nonetheless who’ll look forward to their next race knowing they have more in the tank.
Summary
A great days racing and start to the regatta season by the club. Well done to Commerical for hosting a great event. Thanks to all the parents, volunteers and coaches for all their efforts over a packed day. Of course huge thanks to all our hard-working athletes and to all the people making their regatta debut today. Great performances from all crews today.
Huge thanks to Tony for providing the towing vehicle and driving the trailer up and down. It’s really appreciated.
Next up for the club is the Skibbereen Grand League Regatta in the NRC on 12/13th April
Results
| Category | Crew | Placing |
|---|---|---|
| WJ18 4X- | Kate Lemon, Edie O’Flaherty, Sarah Power, Jessica Cooke | 1st |
| WJ16 4X+ | Molly O’Flynn, Rachel Weldon, Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty, Harry(c) | 1st |
| MJ14 4X+ (A) | Leon Mullins, Maksym Indiuchenko , Padraig Phelan, Toby Cooke, Amelie(c) | 1st |
| MJ14 4X+ (B) | Hugh Brady, Thomas Harpur, Jeff Grant, Richie Mulally, Aine Power(c) | 1st |
| MJ15 4X+ | Bill Ogilvie ,Seán Fitzpatrick, John Brady, Tadhg Hawkins, Hannah Lemon(c) | 1st |
| WJ14 4X+ | Amelie Mullins, Amy Trant, Siri O’Flynn, Sofia Mullins, Hugh Brady(c) | 1st |
| WJ15 2X (A) | Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty | 1st |
| WJ15 2X (B) | Moya Carragher, Emily Whelan | 1st |
| MJ15 2X | Seán Fitzpatrick, Tadhg Hawkins | 1st |
| WJ16 1X | Molly O’Flynn | 2nd |
| MJ16 4X+ | Colm Brennan, Mykola Podmarkov, Sam O’Neil, Harry Grant | SF |
Full results here
Gallery
