Passage West Bring Home The Gold
Writes Laura O’Mahony PRO
After a very busy season this summer, the main event of the season, The National Coastal Rowing Championships, took place in the National Rowing Centre in Farran Woods. The weather for the weekend proved challenging as strong winds meant crews had a tough pull up and down the course. The club had a total of 18 teams entered ranging from U12s to Masters. For some members, it was their first experience of competing at a national level and the atmosphere and club spirit over the weekend was second to none. While everyone rowed their hearts out of the weekend, a number of crews were successful in securing medals to bring home. The Masters Mixed team of Annette Coburn, Eddie Farr, Martin Murphy and Kay Murphy coxed by Billy O’Callaghan took home the gold in style in their final on Saturday, setting the club off to a great start. The next two races saw our crews take to the traditional ‘Cork Yawl’ boats to compete in the Men and Women’s Yawl Race. The men’s team of Patrick O’Sullivan, Jason O’Connell, Gavin O’Flaherty and Billy O’Callaghan, coxed by John O’Byrne, took second place in a very tough race. The women’s team of Tina O’Sullivan, Laura O’Callaghan, Lorna Hallissey and Laura O’Mahony, coxed by John O’Byrne, also took home the silver.
After a very successful day of racing on Saturday, Sunday promised yet more success for the club. The day began with the senior mixed crew of Patrick O’Sullivan, Billy O’Callaghan, Tina O’Sullivan and Laura O’Callaghan, coxed by John O’Byrne, battling oar for oar with Kilmacsimon for first place but eventually crossing the line in second place after a tough race. The next race was the Master Men’s race which saw two of the mixed masters’ gold medalists take to the water again. The strong crew of Eddie Farr, Martin Murphy, Jerry Stuart and Paddy O’Riordan, coxed by Patrick O’Sullivan started off strong and battled up and down the course to finish in second place. Following the success in the Master’s Men race, the Masters Women’s race which really showed the camaraderie that is found in coastal rowing. A composite crew of Kay Murphy and Annette Coburn from Passage West rowed alongside Fiona Perryman and Debbie Parsons and their cox Niall Greaney from Rushbrooke. Having already won gold in the Masters Mixed race, the crew fought hard to get out in front of the race and with 400m to go, they pulled away from their opposition and cruised over the line in first place. The final medal winners of the day were the Intermediate ladies crew of Tina O’Sullivan, Laura O’Callaghan, Lorna Hallissey and Laura O’Mahony, coxed by John O’Byrne. The ladies face a tough race as they came off the starting line tied with a strong Killurin crew who forced the team to work hard. Killurin took a slight lead on Passage West after 600m but Passage West came out of the turn first and headed for home. The two teams battled stroke for stroke for the 750m home with Killurin beating Passage West over the finishing line by inches.
Overall, the club took home a total of two golds and five silvers.
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