The vicorious womens’ junior 16 8
Last weekend 53 athletes from the Boat Club at Portora Royal School made the long journey to Cork to compete at Ireland’s premier rowing event, the Irish Championships.
The extraordinary weather produced some extraordinary results for the Boat Club, as they came away from races with twelve podium finishes.
It was the two womens junior eights that set the tone for the weekend. Showing the strength in numbers of girls at the junior 16 level, Portora had two crews in the event. The older, more experienced crew, of Elizabeth Clarke, Alice Beacom, Sophie O’Dolan, Emma Glover, Chloe Finlayson, Sophie O’Hare, Carrie McShea, Orla McConville and cox Zoe Donaldson burst off the blocks and were never headed over the length of the 2000 metre course. It was a much tighter race for the younger B crew. With just 400 metres to go, they were in 5th place, but with a determined push from the entire eight girls, they surged past Shannon and Shandon crews to secure a well deserved third place finish.
Friday also saw the final of the eagerly awaited mens junior 18 eights. Off the start, the boys came out on top, and maintained a lead to the 250 metre mark, but from that point, the older St Joesph’s outfit from Galway began to take control of the race. Coming to the finish, they began to up the rate and were closing fast on St Joeseph’s, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap. Still, by crossing the line in second place, they achieved the best finish for Portora in this category since 1980.
Saturday saw the turn of the junior 16 boys to race. This crew, who haven’t lost a final all year, were going into the race as the targeted favourites. Barney Rix, the stroke, took the crew off to a flying start and they were to lead from the first stroke to the last, leaving their main rivals, St Joeseph’s, well in their wake.
The women’s junior 18 eight faced a greater challenge in the afternoon. Last years winners, Galway Rowing Club, were back to defend their title but, Portora came out fighting and Elizabeth Clarke had the race of her life in the stroke seat. Though initially disappointed not to have taken the gold, the girls realised the depth of their achievement with such a young crew.
Buoyed by the success of the older athletes, the younger rowers put in some very promising performances. In the final of the boys junior 14 quad, over the 1000 metre course, Aaron Johnston, Jonah Carty, Josh Shirley and Connor McLaughlin Borlace and cox Chloe McClean, took the lead from the start and maintained it to the end. Not to be outdone, the girls junior 14 quad of Mia Jane Elliot, Miriam Kelly, Sophie O’Hare, Lucy Mills and cox Chloe McClean also pulled out all the stops to cross the line first.
Portora BC alumni Lloyd Seaman and Henry Millar came back to compete for the Boat Club in the intermediate pair. Having been Irish champions in the pair last year, the pressure was on to perform at the next level. Despite the year apart, they sailed through the first heat, but came up against a fitter outfit in the finals and were beaten into second place.
The highlight of the Sunday racing was the women’s junior 18 pair. Phoebe Mulligan and Dineka Maguire, were to produce an impressive display, leading from the start and taking such a decisive lead, they were able to paddle through the finish. There was some disappointment in the mens junior 18 pair for Ewan Murray and Alistair Crawford , but this will surely be evened out by an Irish vest, as both are heading across to England to compete at the Home International Regatta in Nottingham.
With the sun shining for almost the entire weekend in Cork, and with well over one hundred Portora supporters on the banks, Portora ended their year with one of the most successful Irish Championships to date. As the athletes take a well deserved break over the summer, they will be looking to next season with a sense of excitement and a sense of more successes to come.
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