Kelly ends Carrick's Championship famine
Carrick Rowing Club's 24 year wait for an Irish National Championship came to an end last Saturday when Dympna Kelly became only the second person in the history of the club to win a Senior National title when she was part of a composite crew which took the big prize in domestic rowing, the Womens Senior 8 Championship of Ireland
Eight of the top womens scullers (2 oars) in Ireland came together in a unique formation to take on the best the country had to offer in sweep rowing (one oar) and they duly showed their class as they had an emphatic two length victory over UCD, NUIG and Trinity College Dublin among others.
Dubbed 'The Super Eight' by the Irish Times in the build up to the event the crew included a host of Irelands top single scullers including Kelly, former World Champion Sinead Jennings, World Junior Championship finalist from last year Laura D'Urso and European Junior medalist Monika Dukarska from Killorglin.
What made the victory all the more unique was that the race itself was the first time all eight scullers had sat in a boat together.
Kelly now joins the legendary Frances Cryan as the only club member to hold an Irish Senior Championship title. In what could be a great week for her she now moves on the Home Internationals in Cork this weekend where she will row for Ireland in both a Double Scull and Quad Scull in the annual match up between Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.
She will be joined by club junior Liam Cox who will compete as part of the Irish Junior Double and Quad scull also.
Carrick had another big win in Cork at the weekend when young sculler Dylan Aherne topped a field of 32 Junior 16 scullers in his category. Aherne was a comfortable winner of both his quarter and semi finals and went to the line of the final as favourite against four scullers from Lee RC and one from Offaly RC.
Aherne powered away from the start and led the whole way coming in a commanding yep lengths clear of 3 Lee RC scullers who battled it for second place in his wake.
Carrick's other entry in this event, Adrian Keaveney, had the unfortunate task of meeting clubmate Aherne in his quarter final and narrowly missed out on qualification for the semi finals by one place.
There was heartbreak for the Mens Novice Quad scull of Nigel Murtagh, Michael O'Rourke, William Little, Padraig Leyden and cox Aaron Keegan who finished an agonising second place to Workmens RC from Killarney.
The Carrick crew were sluggish out of the blocks with Offaly RC taking an early lead followed closely by Workmens with Carrick lying in third place going through 1000 metres. The Workmens and Carrick crews then put in a push and overtook the Offaly crew but it is was Workmens who crossed the line first to the heartbreak of the local crew who had been unbeaten all year up to this.
The Womens Novice Four of Aoife Mulcahy, Eleanor Griffiths, Eimhear Flynn, Aisling Seoighe and cox Ann Marie Cryan had a good outing at their first National Championships - they came through a tough semi final seeing off two NUIG crews and also a crew from Clonmel - in the final they faced crews from Queens Belfast, UCD and Trinity and finished a promising sixth place in a category they will still be eligible for next season.
Next week-end see's the Home Internationals in Cork where Dympna Kelly and Liam Cox will both be representing Ireland while local coaches Mark Kelly and Kieran Hynes will take charge of the Junior Mens Squad at the event.
A large local contingent is expected to travel to follow the fortunes of the club members while the following week-end the club will celebrate an extraordinary year at their own annual Regatta which takes place on the August Bank Holiday weekend.
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Weather for Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: West
