Fermoy Regatta July 2023
Sunday 02nd July saw WBC make the annual trip to Fermoy Regatta. On a thankfully mild July day Waterford entered 22 boats across the various categories. Yet again it proved to be a tremendously successful outing for the club with wins in 9 events and some excellent placings in finals as well. Here’s a brief summary of the various categories:
WJ16 4x+ First up for Waterford were the WJ16 4x+ crew of Erin, Hannah, Sarah, Siun with Deirdre coxing in heat A. They took the heat after a tight race with Lee to advance to the final where they would meet home team Fermoy. Despite another good row where they matched their time from the heats Fermoy took the final by about a second. A tough blow for the girls after two really good races.
MJ15 1x – Henry was next up in the MJ15 1x in Final A. Despite posting a very decent time Henry was pipped for 2nd place here but would have more success later in the day. Next out in the MJ15 1x was Liam who also had a very good race but in a very close finish between all three scullers was just beaten to the line. Last up in the MJ15 1x was Oran who rowed an excellent race and took 1st place in his final. Great showing from Oran here.
WJ14 2x – We had 2 entries in the WJ14 2x finals. In final A Molly and Rachel saw off Carlow to take a comprehensive win with a great time. Not to be outdone, Faye and Hannah took the win in their final to extend their winning run. Brilliant work from both crews, well done girls.
MJ16 2x – Just the one entry from Waterford in the MJ16 2x saw Sean and Darragh take to the water in Heat F. They took a good victory beating both of their rival crews with a few lengths to spare to advance to the semi-final. In the semi-final they met a very strong Cappoquin crew and unfortunately lost out by a couple of seconds. That Cappoquin crew would move on to win the final later in the day. Great showing from the lads all the same.
MJ18 1x – Just the one entry for Waterford in the MJ18 1x but Lochlann didn’t disappoint. Lochlann only had his first race a few weeks back in Carlow where he ended up winning the final. He carried on his good form here and took his heat in an extremely tight race with scullers from New Ross and Clonmel to advance to the final. In the final Lochlann was up against scullers from Carlow and Killorglin. In what would prove to be a very tight final again Lochlann took the win in a stunning time of 1:31.0 just pipping the Carlow sculler to the line. Brilliant pair of races here from Lochlann making it look like he’s been racing for years.
WJ16 2x – First up for WBC in Heat A were Hannah and Deirdre. The girls didn’t quite get things going and came home third in their heat. Next up in Heat C were Erin and Siun who took a comfortable win over Fermoy to advance to the semi-final. In the semi they met Carlow and after a very tough race the girls took a tight finish to move through to the final. In the final they met an incredibly strong Lee crew who went on to take the win, but the girls maintained their pace throughout and matched their time from the semi. Nonetheless a great performance throughout the day from the pair.
WJ15 4x+ – The WJ15 4x+ crew of Edie, Katie, Aine, Jessica and Faye as cox came into their race on the back of fantastic form all season long. However on a slightly off day they were just beaten by a crew from Killorglin. Despite posting a time that would have won any of the other WJ15 4x+ finals the girls had to settle for 2nd in their race. A really good showing nonetheless and they’ll look forward to the 1K classic next weekend.
MJ14 1x – WBC had two entries in this category. First out of the traps was Colm in Final D. Following up his good form over the past few regatta Colm took the win here with a comfortable win over scullers for New Ross and Castleconnell. Nice job Colm.
Harry was next to take to the water in Final F but had a poor start and hit a buoy shortly after the start line. With the 500m sprint being such a short event a bad start can wreck a race. Despite this, Harry composed himself and et about the task in hand and rowed a really good race reducing the gap in the 2nd half and finishing strongly.
MJ16 1x – Next up were the MJ16 1x scullers. Sean Harte was first out in Heat B and took a relatively straightforward victory. Darragh was next out in Heat C and in a very competitive race was unlucky to come home in third.
Sean advanced to the semi where he would take on scullers from Athlunkard and New Ross. Having held something in the tank since the heats Sean comprehensively won the semi improving his time by over 5 seconds to advance to he final. The final was incredibly close with Sean just being pipped to the line by the sculler from Carlow. Really unlucky after a hard days racing but a great result nonetheless, well rowed Sean.
WJ16 1x – Just the one representative in this category for WBC where Sarah would compete. Despite posting a time that would have won all of the other heats Sarah got the toughest of the heats and was unlucky to come in third in a very close race between all three. A really good showing from Sarah here anyway, well done.
MJ13 4x+ – Our youngest mens crew of Sean, Sam, Toby, Mads and Deirdre as cox took part in an invitational event between themselves, Muckross and Fermoy. In one of the closest finishes of the day the lads were leading with about 100 metres to go but Muckross were charging and gaining quickly but the boys dug deep and took their first win in a final by a bowball. Great show form the lads and Deirdre who’ll all be delighted to get their first medal as a crew.
WJ15 2x – Waterford had three crews running in this category. First out of the traps were Aine and Jessica who have proved to be a formidable pair this season. They carried on their great form and took this race by a considerable distance. Great showing again girls.
Edie and Katie took part in Final B and despite an excellent time they finished 2nd to an incredibly strong pair from Lee. A great showing anyway and they’ll look forward to the 1K Classic next week.
Last but by no means least were Molly and Kate in Final D. despite putting in an excellent time the girls took 2nd behind a very strong Fermoy boat. Always more difficult to row against the home teams. Again, a very strong showing, well done girls.
MJ15 2x – Coming towards the end of the day the MJ15 2x pair of Henry and Oran took to the water in their final v St Michaels and Castleconnell. As they’ve done several times already this season the lads brought home the victory in one of the fastest times of the day. Great showing again, congratulations lads.
WJ14 4x+ – Last and by no means least were the WJ14 4x+ crew of Rachel, Molly, Hannah and Faye with Jessica coxing. The girls have been in great form all year and took a very comfortable victory here to continue their great form. This adds to the finals that all 4 girls won in the WJ14 2x earlier in the day as well. Brilliant showing again girls.
Next we move on to the 1K Classic at the National Rowing Centre (NRC) in Co Cork on Sat 8th July. This was postponed for a week due to high winds on the original day but will give the Junior 15’s and under one more day out in the regatta season. Following up the week after that will be the Irish Rowing Championships at the NRC for J16 and upwards.
Again the club would like to thank everyone involved with day and the days leading up to it, Mick for towing the trailer, Stephen for lending the jeep, the coaches,the parents. We say thanks all the time but we do really mean it. Without everyone’s help we wouldn’t be able to support the club in this way. Final and most important thanks goes to our athletes. Regardless of results all of them are an absolute credit to the club and we’re proud of all of them. The training and effort that goes in throughout the year is absolutely fantastic
On to the NRC…
Placings
The full official results can be found here
| Category | Crew | Placing |
| MJ15 1x | Oran Skinner | 1st |
| WJ14 2x | Molly O’Flynn, Rachel Weldon | 1st |
| WJ14 2x | Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty | 1st |
| MJ18 1x | Lochlann Flanagan | 1st |
| MJ13 4x+ | Sean Fitzpatrick, Sam O’Neill, Toby Cooke, Mads O’Flynn, Cox: Deirdre McHugh | 1st |
| MJ14 1x | Colm Brennan | 1st |
| WJ15 2x | Aine Power, Jessica Cooke | 1st |
| MJ15 2x | Henry Brady, Oran Skinner | 1st |
| WJ14 4x+ | Rachel Weldon, Molly O’Flynn, Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty, Cox: Jessica | 1st |
| MJ16 1x | Sean Harte | 2nd |
Gallery
