AGM 2024
Notice is hereby given that the 2024 Waterford Boat Club AGM will take place on Wednesday 20th of November at 7.30pm in club premises at Canada Street.
R McHugh (Club secretary)
Olympic Rowathon July 2024
As part of the club’s fundraising activities a Rowathon was held on Friday 26 July in City Square shopping center in Waterford. The idea was that our members would row the distance between Waterford and Paris on ergs (rowing machines) throughout the day to mark the upcoming Paris Olympics and the huge Irish participation across the rowing events. This is a distance of 767 km.
Rowers were organised in 2 hour shifts working across 6 machines. After a monumental effort by all (including 2 marathon distance rows by Sean and Darragh) a total combined distance of 840km was achieved by the end of the day beating our target by quite a bit. Well done to all of our club members for turning out and putting in such a shift.
Huge thanks have to go to Louise and the Fundraising committee for getting this off the ground, to the parents and volunteers who turned up for hours at a time to supervise and help out. Thanks to ex-members and their family members for stopping by and supporting and of course to the management in City Square for allowing us to have the event on their premises. The club hugely appreciates it.
And last but certainly not least, massive thanks to the Waterford public who supported and donated so generously throughout the day.
Finally, the best of luck to all of our Irish crews and other athletes taking part in this years Olympics.
Gallery
Irish Rowing Championships 2024
This years rowing season culminated in the biggest ever Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre in Farran, Co Cork. The 2024 event lasted three full days (from Friday, July 12th, to Sunday, July 14th) and featured an impressive lineup of 916 crews, 51 clubs, 1169 competitors, 216 races, and 54 events.
Waterford Boat Club had (5+x+x) crews entered over the weekend. The club performed extremely well against the very best crews from across the country, showcasing their talent. The competition was fierce, and the results reflected the rowers’ high level of skill and dedication. Due to the huge number of crews taking part, races could feature up to 50-60 crews in a time trial setup for all heats with only the overall top 6 times going through to the final. Highlights from the weekend included:
WJ16 4x+ (Kate Lemon, Edie O’Flaherty, Katie Fitzpatrick, Jessica Cook and cox Aine Power) made it to the final of the WJ16 4x+ and ranked 5th place overall, missing out on 4th place by a mere 0.03 of a second.
WJ18 4x- (Hannah Boylan, Siun O’Mahony, Erin O’Neill, Sarah Power) ranked 9th place overall
WJ16 2x (Edie O’Flaherty, Katie Fitzpatrick) ranked 9th place
MJ16 4x+ (Henry Brady, Oran Skinner, Harry Whelan and Gosha Shekunov) Ranked 9th overall and missed the final by just 2 seconds. A great showing from a crew in this age category who’ve only been together for a couple of months.
These are only a few of the highlights of a fine showing from the club during the Championships. well done to all of our athletes both over this weekend and over the whole season. The huge effort that’s gone in was clearly visible over the season.
Results
| Category | Crew | Placing | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| WJ16 4x+ | Kate Lemon, Edie O’Flaherty, Katie Fitz, Jessica Cooke, Aine Power | 5th | 7:59.8 |
| MJ18 1x | Sean Harte | 24th | 8:18.7 |
| MJ18 1x | Darragh Ryan | 48th | 9:02.2 |
| WJ18 1x | Sarah Power | 27th | 9:27.5 |
| MJ16 4x+ | Henry Brady, Oran Skinner, Harry Whelan, Gosha Shekunov | 10th | 7:12.9 |
| WJ18 2x | Hannah Cunningham Boylan, Deirdre McHugh | 18th | 8:19.6 |
| WJ18 2x | Erin O’Neill, Siun O’Mahony | 24th | 8:26.5 |
| WJ16 2x | Edie O’Flaherty, Katie Fitzpatrick | 9th | 8:12.0 |
| WJ16 2x | Kate Lemon, Aine Power | 29th | 8:55.0 |
| MJ16 2x | Oran Skinner, Harry Whelan | 12th | 7:27.6 |
| MJ16 2x | Henry Brady, Gosha Shekunov | 15th | 7:30.3 |
| MJ16 1x | Henry Brady | 32nd | 8:12.2 |
| MJ16 1x | Oran Skinner | 39th | 8:16.3 |
| MJ16 1x | Harry Whelan | 49th | 8:35.7 |
| MJ18 2x | Sean Harte, Darragh Ryan | 20th | 7:18.2 |
| WJ18 4x- | Hannah Boylan, Sarah Power, Erin O’Neill, Siun O’Mahony | 9th | 7:32.3 |
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Thanks to Rent-A-Box Self Storage
Waterford Boat Club would like to pass on their sincere thanks to Martin O’Shea from Rent-A-Box Self Storage Waterford Ballinadud for providing us with a vehicle to tow our boat trailer down to the National Rowing Championships at the start of July.
Support from the local community and businesses is invaluable to our club so thanks to Martin for offering help at really short notice.
If you’re looking for secure domestic or commercial self-storage solutions get in touch with Rent-A-Box to avail of one of their 3 locations in Waterford
Fermoy Regatta June 2024
Race Report
Fermoy Regatta took place on Sunday 30th June, the day after the 1K Classic up in Lough Rinn. Our J14 and J15 crews from the 1K rejoined the rest of the club for Fermoy where the club had 30 entries across a single day with heats and finals in most events which made for an extremely busy day for all of our crews.
Fermoy Regatta is a sprint regatta and is held over a 3 lane 500 meter course on The Blackwater through the center of Fermoy which makes for an excellent location and hugely enjoyable atmosphere every year. This would be the final event of the season for our J13-J15 crews and would act as a final tune-up for our J16-J18 crews for the upcoming 2024 National Championships down in the NRC between the 15th-17th July.
An early start was needed for everyone. Lisa and Tony brought our own loaded trailer down on Saturday afternoon and Clonmel Rowing Club were kind enough to transport our boats to the 1K Classic and then down to Fermoy so a huge thanks has to go out to them.
The J13 and J14 events were straight finals but unusually these were timed as well so it offered a good comparison to the other crews taking part in the other finals. For J15 and upwards there were no straight finals but rather a time trial with just the three fastest times in the heats going through to the final.
As always, the straight 500 meter distance made for extremely exciting racing with no room for errors. Some excellent results including 4 wins, 3 second places and 7 third places. Also we had several of our girls and boys J14 doubles racing for the first time.
Well done to all our athletes taking part today and thanks to all the parents and volunteers who helped out on the day. Huge thanks again to Tony for towing the trailer this weekend.
Results
| Category | Crew | Placing | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| WJ18 4x+ | Hannah, Siun O’Mahony, Erin O’Neill, Sarah Power, Deirdre McHugh(c) | 1st | 1:46.3 |
| WJ15 2x | Rachel Weldon, Molly O’Flynn | 1st | 1:51.3 |
| WJ14 1x | Faye O’Flaherty | 1st | 2:04.1 |
| MJ13 4x+ | Leon Mullins, Hugh Brady, Mads O’Flynn, Ben Weldon, Toby Cooke(c) | 1st | 2:00.5 |
| WJ15 1x | Molly O’Flynn | 2nd | 1:58.8 |
| WJ15 4x+ | Rachel Weldon, Molly O’Flynn, Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty | 2nd | 1:49.6 |
| WJ16 2x | Edie O’Flaherty, Katie Fitzpatrick | 2nd | 1:51.9 |
| WJ16 2x | Kate Lemon, Jessica Cooke | 3rd | 1:54.5 |
| WJ16 4x+ | Edie O’Flaherty, Katie Fitzpatrick, Kate Lemon, Jessica Cooke, | 3rd | 1:48.1 |
| MJ16 1x | Henry Brady | 3rd | 1:49.1 |
| MJ16 1x | Oran Skinner | 5th | 1:50.9 |
| MJ18 2x | Sean Harte, Darragh Ryan | 6th | 1:40.7 |
| MJ18 1x | Sean Harte | 5th | 1:46.3 |
| WJ18 1x | Sarah Power | 3rd | 1:59.2 |
| WJ14 2x | Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty | 3rd | 1:59.2 |
| WJ14 2x | Amelie Mullins, Sofia Mullins | 7th | 2:13.6 |
| MJ14 4x+ | Sean Fitzpatrick, Tadhg Hamkins, John Brady, Sam O’Neill, Toby Cooke | 4th | 1:55.1 |
| MJ16 2x | Henry Brady, Gosha Shekunov | 9th | 1:45.5 |
| WJ18 2x | Erin O’Neill, Siun O’Mahony | 3rd | 1:50.3 |
| WJ18 2x | Deirdre McHugh, Hannah Cunningham Boylan | 5th | 1:55.2 |
| WJ14 2x | Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty | 3rd | 1:59.2 |
| MJ15 2x | Colm Brennan, Harry Grant | 6th | 1:50.1 |
| WJ13 4x+ | Amelie Mullins, Siri O’Flynn, Leah (Bantry), Sofia Mullins, Sam O’Neill | 2nd | 2:14.8 |
Gallery
1K Classic June 2024
Race Report
The 1K classic is the culmination of the J13-J15 season. This year it was held on Saturday 29th June at Lough Linn Co Leitrim. The 1K Classic tends to move between Cork and Leitrim on alternating years. As a result of this year’s event being held in Lough Rinn a good deal of the Northern Irish clubs have the chance to attend making this an Island wide event
Waterford Boat Club had crews entered in 6 races during the day
- WJ15 4x+ – Rachel Weldon, Molly O’Flynn, Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty, Harry Grant(cox)
- MJ15 1x – Harry Grant
- WJ15 1x – Molly O’Flynn and Rachel Weldon
- WJ14 1x – Hannah Lemon and Faye O’Flaherty
Our crew’s performances were excellent again today and competition was very strong in each race as expected. The WJ15 4x+ crew and cox Harry came in a solid 3rd place in a very tough final and gave an excellent showing giving it their best effort.
Harry raced really well in his MJ15 1x with tough competition
Molly achieved 2nd place in her WJ15 1x final and gave a very brave battle to the line but lost out in a close race to the sculler from Athlone.
Rachel took the win in her WJ15 1x final where she led from the start and was very comfortable throughout. Really well done Rachel.
Faye and Hannah got drawn in the same final which is always a bit of a shame when team mates are drawn against each other but nonetheless both girls performed exceptionally well in the final with Faye taking an excellent win after a really tough battle with the sculler from Lee Valley with Hannah following in closely behind in 3rd place. A brilliant result for the girls.
In summary, a fantastic effort from all of our crews today in the highlight event of the Junior 13-15 season. Everyone represented the club well today, gave their absolute best effort and should be proud of themselves. Thanks to all parents, guardians and club members for the support and well wishes.
However there’s no rest for our crews as they make the long journey home only to turn around a few hours later to head up to Fermoy Regatta the following morning to meet up with the rest of the club for an extremely busy day with the WJ15 4x+ girls back racing again at 08:22 am.
The club would like to thank Clonmel Rowing Club for bringing our boats for the 1K up to Lough Rinn and bringing them down to Fermoy for the next day’s regatta. A huge thanks to them for their help.
Gallery
Carlow Regatta June 2024
Now a regular event for the club WBC took part in Carlow Regatta on Sun 02nd June. Luckily the weather was really good on the day with no rain or wind. This was a great help on the Carlow course which can be a tricky one to navigate on the best of days given the number of bends throughout the 1200 meter stretch of the Barrow.
Attendance was down on previous years due to other postponed regattas being moved to the same weekend which meant that Carlow regatta was just held over the single day rather than the full weekend but nonetheless there was plenty of exciting racing packed into the Sunday.
Waterford performed extremely well on the day and won a total of (x) finals. Notable mentions have to go out to a recently formed MJ16 4x+ who won their race as well as our WJ13 4x+ who took their maiden win this season (albeit in the older WJ 14 4x+ category). Our MJ13 4x+ crew won their third race in a row, but again racing in the older J14 category. Well done to all of our crews and thanks to Carlow Rowing Club for hosting such a good event as always.
As always thanks to Mick for getting the trailer safely to and from the event.
Next event for the Club is Cork Regatta which will be held in the NRC on Sat 22nd June.
Results
The full official results from Carlow Regatta 2024 can be found here or here (not updated yet)
| Category | Crew | Placing |
|---|---|---|
| MJ18A 2x | Sean Harte, Darragh Ryan | 1st |
| MJ18A 1x | Sean Harte | 2nd |
| MJ16 4x+ | Gosha Shekunov, Harry Whelan, Henry Brady, Oran Skinner, Deirdre McHugh(c) | 1st |
| MJ16 1x | Oran Skinner | 1st |
| MJ14 4x+ | Sean Fitzpatrick, John Brady, Tadhg Hawkins, Sam O’Neill, Sofia Mullins(c) | 1st |
| MJ14 4x+ | Leon Mullins, Hugh Brady, Maksym Indiuchenko, Mads O’Flynn, Toby Cooke(c) | 1st |
| WJ18A 2x | Erin O’Neill, Siun O’Mahony | 1st |
| WJ18A 1x | Sarah Power | 1st |
| WJ16 2x | Edie O’Flaherty, Katie Fitzpatrick | 1st |
| WJ16 1x | Aine Power | 1st |
| WJ15 4x+ | Rachel Weldon, Molly O’Flynn, Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty, Harry Grant(c) | 1st |
| WJ15 2x | Molly O’Flynn, Rachel Weldon | 1st |
| WJ15 1x | Rachel Weldon | 1st |
| WJ14 4x+ | Amelie Mullins, Leah Trant, Amy Trant, Sofia Mulling, Siri O’Flynn(c) | 1st |
| WJ14 2x | Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty | 1st |
| WJ14 1x | Hannah Lemon | 1st |
| WJ14 1x | Faye O’Flaherty | 1st |
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Lee Regatta May 2024
Waterford Boat Club attended our fourth even of the year – Lee Regatta on Sat 18th May 2024. We had a total of 30 entries on the day with 9 wins overall as well as a significant number of second and third places which is a remarkable achievement for such a hard fought regatta as Lee.
Some of the highlights of the day included the WJ18 4x- crew getting the day off to a great start with a comprehensive win to keep their winning run going.
Ben Weldon and Toby Cooke achieved a very respectable 4th place in their MJ13 2x double which was an excellent result as they’d only been out in a double once before the race.
Edie O’Flaherty and Katie Fitzpatrick won their WJ16 2x final. Sean Harte won his MJ18 1x heat and progressed to the final where he finished 3rd. Molly O’Flynn and Rachel weldon both took 2nd in their WJ15 1x finals. Sarah Power finished 2nd in her heat and qualified for the WJ18 1x final where she came in third.
Oran Skinner took 3rd in his MJ16 1x and Henry Brady took 2nd in his MJ16 1x. Later in the day Henry and Gosha Shekunov would win their MJ16 2x. Congratulations to the lads and to Gosha on his first win.
Following up their victory from Castleconnell, the MJ13 4x+ crew of Leon, Hugh, Maksym, Mads and cox Sofia took an excellent win where they won well after a great start. Great display from the crew, most of whom have only started rowing in the past few months.
Harry Grant and Colm Brennan took third place in their MJ15 2x final. In the MJ16 1x final Jessica Cooke took 2nd and Aine Power placed third. Then towards the very end of the day Rachel Weldon and Molly O’Flynn rounded off another very succesul regatta with a great win in the WJ15 2x.
Special mention has to go to Faye and Hannah who competed and won in three different categories over the space of 70 minutes and won all their races in the WJ15 4x+ (with Rachel and Molly), the WJ14 2x and also both girls won their individual singles as well. Fantastic display from the girls to keep their winning run going.
A great days racing yet again from all of our crews. Well done to all who took part and represented the club so well. As always thanks to all of the coaches for their ongoing hard work and for all the parents and guardians for helping out on the day
Big thanks to Tony for providing the jeep and towing the trailer up and down to Cork and also for the excellent photography on the day. Hugely appreciated by all.
The races are coming thick and fast now with the club travelling to Blessington on Sat 25th May for Dublin Metropolitan regatta for the second of three consecutive weekends of racing.
Placings
The full official results can be found here
| Category | Crew | Placing |
| WJ18 4x- | Hannah Cunningham Boylan, Siun O’Mahony, Sarah Power, Erin O’Neill | 1st |
| WJ16 2x | Edie O’Flaherty, Katie Fitzpatrick | 1st |
| WJ16 1x | Jessica Cooke | 2nd |
| WJ15 1x | Rachael Weldon | 2nd |
| WJ15 1x | Molly O’Flynn | 2nd |
| WJ15 4x+ | Molly O’Flynn, Rachel Weldon, Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty, Mads (cox) | 1st |
| WJ15 2x | Rachel Weldon, Molly O’Flynn | 1st |
| WJ14 2x | Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty | 1st |
| WJ14 1x | Faye O’Flaherty | 1st |
| WJ14 1x | Hannah Lemon | 1st |
| MJ16 2x | Henry Brady, Gosha Shekunov | 1st |
| MJ13 4x+ | Leon Mullins, Maksym, Hugh, Mads, Sofia(cox) | 1st |
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Fundraising – Ardkeen Stores
Saturday 11th May 2024 – Waterford Boat Club held a collection in Ardkeen stores to raise funds for the club. The stand was manned all day by our athletes taking 2 hours shifts between the various crews. We even had a surprise visitor, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, pictured with some of our members in the photo below.
Huge thanks to Ardkeen Stores for allowing us to set up in the entrance to the store again this year. It’s hugely appreciated by the club.
Also, thanks to all our crews, supervising parents for manning the station all day and of course to Louise for organising another hugely successful fundraising event. And the biggest thanks of course goes to the public who donated so generously on the day.
Castleconnell Sprints May 2024
Placeholder for Castleconnell Sprints May 2024.
