SOME 85 rowers from Enniskillen Royal Boat Club descended on the river Lagan last week for the Lagan Head of the River.

The event was in two sections. In the morning event, some divisions were better supported than others, so medals were not awarded in those where there were fewer crews.

In unseasonably fine conditions, there were some fine victories in their age groups for ERBC crews.

The boys’ J14 crew (Bell, Ihnat, Woods, Donaghy and cox Ralph) beat teams from Dublin, Portadown and Coleraine handsomely.

The J15 eight (Shepherd, Maguire-Favro, Campbell, Sembhi, Sreenivasan, Downey, Coalter, Timoney and cox McNeary) were in imperious form, as were the J18 double scull of Khew and Davis-Kunze, who beat Bann Rowing Club.

The J18 four (Kelly, Harty, Timoney, Abraham and cox Fee)showed Belfast Inst the way home in a good time

The girls’ J14 crew of Black, Kelly, Turner, Wright and cox Cathcart continued their early season form by beating Bann, Newry and Neptune from Dublin in a sustained row over the two-mile course.

They were followed by the J15 crew of Robinson,Welsh, Morris, Cartin-McCloskey and cox Thompson, who beat Dublin Commercial in a close race.

Two more wins followed in the morning session.

The J15 girls eight of Remedios, Murphy, Lipscomb, Lindsay, Kingston, Fowler, Blake, Armstrong and cox Hannah Naylor set a fast time and the J18 girls crew of Turner, Thompson, O’Donnell and Cullinan were imperious in seeing off Dublin Commercial and Belfast Boat Club.

The big boats were on show in the afternoon.

The boys’ eight (Timoney, Kelly, Abraham, Harty, Davis-Kunze, Khew, Keogh, Halliday and cox Fee) saw off Belfast Inst and were the second-fastest crew of the day, including adult crews.

Maturity

The girls equivalent (Cullinan, Thompson, Turner, O’Donnell, Cartin-McCloskey, Huddlestone, Kingston, Johnston and Cox Ralph) were a younger outfit than usual, and with the youthful Eva Johnston at stroke, rowed with maturity to deal firmly with Dublin Commercial.

The scene now switches to preparation for the local Head of the River on March 4 over the testing championship course.

An interesting footnote to the rowing last week was the trip to Belfast with four Year 9 crews on the Thursday before the main race.

Methodist College hosted this friendly fixture and such was its success it is hoped to repeat these private matches, as it gives good racing experience to the youngest rowers.

 

New subscription deal - Start your subscription in our end of winter sale. Enjoy your first month for just £1. Or try our best value deal of one year for £41.60. Click here to subscribe