Conditions were almost perfect for the Erne Eights Head of the River event on Saturday, with no wind or rain, and strong river flow which made for competitive racing.
For the third time since 1957, there were separate races for women and men, with 34 female teams and 59 male teams a record entry for the event.
Clubs from all over Ireland travelled for the race which is one of the most popular events in the spring rowing calendar.
Many former rowers came back to help at the event, including former head of rowing Robert Northridge who was in the starter team.
In the morning women’s’ race there were excellent wins for the ERBC J18 eight crew Kate Huddlestone, Eva Johnston, Naomi Robinson, Rhea Cartin McCloskey, Isabella Wright, Emily Black, Sienna Howel, stroke Zara Welsh and cox Jessica Thompson coming home 18 seconds ahead of second placed St Michaels and claiming the Sir Tony Hart trophy.
Not to be outdone their J16 colleagues claimed the Kemp Cup with Tori Davis, Brooke Davis, Grace Collins, Darcy Balfour, Abbie McCarthy-Magwood, Amy Williamson, Eva Fowler, Cadence Binu and cox Milena Remedios recording an impressive one minute win over second place Coláiste Iognaid RC.
In the Club class there were no competitors but the crew of Freya McNeary, Caithlin Tisha, Maebh Murphy, Annabelle Kingston, Zara Lindsay, Mya Morris, Ruby Hamill, Hannah Armstrong and cox Abbey Wilson finished with a strong time of 22.39 minutes.
The J15 Octo of Aimee Turner, Clodagh Donaghy, Kaitlyn Read, Maeve Rolston-McAuliffe, Madeleine Curran, Flavia Remedios, Leah Topping, Penny Huddlestone, and cox Rachel Cathcart had big 2.49-minute winning margin over Carlow RC.
The fastest women’s crew were Trinity College Dublin who deservedly claimed the Brian Kidd Cup with the fourth fastest ever recorded at the event.
In the afternoon, the sun made an appearance and the men’s crews had better conditions to contend with.
In the hotly contested J18 class with nine strong crews, Enniskillen crew of Lorcan Sreenivasan, William Bogle, Andrew Cuthbertson, Christian Timoney, Ryan Topping, Luke Bailey, Austin Cassidy, Evan Donaghy, and cox Abbey Wilson claimed the win and the Devenish Cup with a 14 second margin over second placed Neptune.
In the J18B class, the Enniskillen crew of Justin Smith, Ben Cameron, Hugo McChesney, Charlie Lynn, Harley Shepherd, Joe Murphy, Harry Coalter, Jake Sembhi, and cox Jessica Thompson also won with a 22 second gap, again over Neptune.
There were also good second places for the Enniskillen crews in the J16 eight, J15 octo and J14 oct classes, with many junior rowers racing in the age group above.
The J16 crew losing margin to old rivals St Joseph’s was only half a second.
The fastest men’s crew overall were UCD who claimed the Rowing Cup with a time of 18.27 minutes.
Club captains Luke Bailey and Eva Johnston with the Waterways Ireland trophy for Best Junior Club.
Enniskillen also won the Waterways Ireland sponsored Best Junior Club.
Meanwhile, Portora Royal Boat Club also enjoyed remarkable success at the competitive Erne Head of the River event.
In the Women’s race, Portora started first in class and met a younger international level masters composite crew from five clubs.
Portora held their nerve racing at 29 strokes per minute beating younger crews from Carlow, Belfast / Lagan, Dublin Neptune and Athlone in a fast time of 24 minutes and 38 seconds.
Portora men then raced in the age 50-55 category.
Coxed expertly by Erin Carty they completed the course in another fast time of 21 minutes and 7 seconds only beaten by a highly experienced crew from Neptune in Dublin.
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