ENNISKILLEN Royal Boat Club brought home a haul of 16 victories from Saturday’s Athlone Regatta, as the club’s young rowers impressed against top crews from across the country. Despite a bleak forecast, conditions on Lough Ree held up for the Athlone Regatta, with light winds and just one downpour throughout the day.
In a packed schedule where every race was treated as a final due to the popularity of the event, Enniskillen Royal Boat Club delivered a strong all-round showing—particularly from its junior rowers.
Crews travelled from across Ireland—including Cork, Limerick, Belfast, Galway, Dublin, Sligo, Skibbereen, Coleraine, Newry and hosts Athlone—with an eye on testing their form ahead of next month’s national championships. The senior championships take place in Cork, while the junior event is set for Lough Rynn in County Leitrim.
There were promising signs too from the club’s newest crop, as several J13 rowers – many of whom only began training in Septem-ber – stepped up a year to race at J14 level, earning impressive second-place finishes.
With the championship season fast approaching, the future continues to look bright for ERBC.
Among the Fermanagh club’s winners were:
Junior Boys
J14 double sculls: George Elliott & Oliver Collins; Louis McIvor & Albie Cluff; Levi Thompson & Eli Irvine
J14 single scull: Josh Allen
J14 quad sculls: A crew (Stroke: Louis McIvor, Cox: Freya McNeary), B crew (Stroke: George Elliott, Cox: Rachel Cathcart)
J14 octuple: Stroke: Josh Allen, Cox: Freya McNeary
J15 eight & quad: Stroke: Evan Clarke, Cox: Rachel Cathcart
J16 double: Cameron Bell & Shane O’Donnell
J16 eight: Stroke: Evan Clarke, Cox: Rachel Cathcart
Junior Girls
J14 octuple: Stroke: Nicole Graham, Cox: Leah Topping
J14 double: Clodagh Donaghy & Maeve Rolston-McAuliffe
J14 quad: Stroke: Nicole Graham, Cox: Leah Topping
J15 single scull: Eva Fowler
J13 quad: Stroke: Mylene Leonard, Cox: Cat Starrett.
There were promising signs too from the club’s newest crop, as several J13 rowers – many of whom only began training in September – stepped up a year to race at J14 level, earning impressive second-place finishes.