Archives 2010s

2010 - 2011 Season

The 2010 – 11 season saw the appointment of Chris Black, CAI old boy as coach of CAIBC, who after a turbulent previous season brought some much needed stability to the club.

Bann Head

Once again, Bann Head was the first race of the season, where the club saw wins in the J18 4+, J16 1x and J15 4x+.

After this strong start to the season, winter training was interrupted by a spell of bad weather, meaning that the school had to close. This did not deter the rowers who persevered, trudging through the snow to get on to the water until the weather worsened still further and the Bann itself froze. Training still went ahead on land, with the Banana Boats being put to use, only this time as a sled to be pulled over the snow-covered rugby pitches for resistance training. COBRA day came along but the river had still not thawed, so the Schoolboy Old Boy race could not go ahead and Ice was declared the winner of the Hamburg Trophy.

Schools Head of the River Race

The 1st 8+ traveled to London to compete in the School’s Head of the River Race, for the first time almost 10 years. Despite a few hiccups on the way to the start, most notably missing it entirely, the crew was allowed to join in the race slightly further down the starting order than anticipated and rowed a good race finishing 71st overall.

Lagan Head

At Lagan Head of the river the 1st 8+ split down into two 4+s, where they finished 1st and 2nd in their category

Queen’s Regatta

The first regatta of the season saw windy conditions on Castlewellan lake, and a number of close races, but no overall wins. Gareth Clarke finished 6th in the Intermediate 1x, in a strong field, the J18 4x finished 4th and the J18 4+ finished 2nd.

Belfast Sprint regatta

Belfast Sprints saw a win in almost every category the club entered, with oarsmen picking up medals in the: Intermediate 2x, J18 2x, J16 4+, J16 2x, J15 8+ which saw a CAI-CAI final, and the J14 4x+.

Portadown regatta

Portadown regatta only saw a medal in the J15 2x, though the J18 4+, J16 4x+, J16 2x, J16 1x and J14 4x+ all reached their respective finals but were unable to overcome strong competition, finishing 2nd.

The CAIBC junior club also made a trip across to England to take part in Talkin Tarn Regatta near Carlisle. They all raced well but against the stronger English competition were did not pick up any medals, though a great deal of experience was gained from the trip.

Irish Championships

Gareth Clarke raced the Intermediate Single but the standard of competition was very high and he was unfortunately not able to qualify for the final.

The Junior 4+ of Corey McDowell, Stephen McKay, Graham Hunter, Adam Millar and Brandon Crawford, due to a tough draw were unable to progress past the heats.

The Junior 2x of Mark McMullan and Graham Hunter had a hard race but remained in the mix throughout, but were just piped at the finish line, failing to qualify by just 0.1 seconds.

Captain: Mark McMullan
Vice-Captain: Keith Gibson, Gareth Clarke

2011 - 2012 Season

Bann Head

The season once again began with CAIBC crews taking to home waters for Bann head, which saw wins for the Junior 18 2- and Junior 15 4x+

On the same day, Mark McMullan traveled to Dublin to compete in the Irish indoor championships, where he won silver in the Junior Lightweight category.

COBRA Day

After the disappointment of the previous year's cancelled race, both the School Boys and Old Boys crews were keen to get on the water The race began predictably, with the lighter School Boys leading off the start, in previous years the stronger, more experienced Old Boys would have reeled the School Boys in and over taken them. This year that did not happen, though not for lack of trying. The School Boys led the Old Boys the whole way down the course, eventually winning and becoming the first School Boy crew to beat a COBRA Crew.

Lagan Head

Lagan head saw a number of second place finishes in the J18 4-, J18 4x, J16 4x+, J16 8+ and Intermediate 4+.

Erne Head

The J18 8+ Finished 2nd in their category.

School's Head

This year both an 8+ and 4x traveled to London to compete in the School's Head of the River. The 8+ finished 42nd overall and the 4x finished 152nd overall and 15th in their category.

Queen's Regatta

Bad weather once again plagued Castlewellan Lake, not too severe to force a cancellation of the racing, but a number of medals were awarded based on times recorded in the heats. This disappointed many oarsmen as they were hoping to redeem a poor heat with a strong performance in the Final. The day finished with a 3rd in the J18 2x and a very close 2nd place in the J164+

Portadown Regatta

Portadown regatta saw wins for the J16 8+ and Callum Marshall in J16 1x as well as a number of 2nd place finishes in Novice 4+, Novice 2x, Novice 4x+, J18 8+, J18 4+, J18 2x and Senior 2x.

Unfortunately due to a poor entry, the Belfast Sprint Regatta had to be cancelled, a disappointment to all as this would have been the final regatta of the season for many.

Irish Championships

The Junior 8+ tested their mettle against the best Junior crews in Ireland, but were unable to overcome the competitions' experience, finishing 6th. The next day, the 8+ split down into a Junior 4+ and Junior 4x-, but their lack of experience in these boats hampered them and neither crew as able to progress past their heats.

On the final day, a Junior 2- and Junior 2x raced, they raced well, but despite close races, were again unable to progress past their heats.

Captain: Corey McDowell

2012 - 2013 Season

Lagan Head

Lagan head saw a strong race by the 1st 8+, racing in the J18 category, where they finished 3rd, both in their category and overall, only a few seconds behind the competition from Neptune and Portora. A number of other crews raced well, most notably the Novice 4+ and J18 2x but they were the only entries in their category.

Queen's Regatta

Queen's regatta saw a large entry from the club across a wide range of categories, with many crews making their finals, unfortunately only the J18B 8+ was able to win their category.

Portadown Regatta

The 1st 8+ raced both J18 and Inter categories, winning the J18 8+ Category and finishing 2nd in the Intermediate category, the regatta also saw medals won by the Novice 2x.

Belfast Sprint Regatta

CAIBC entered a large number of categories in Belfast Sprints, expecting a fun and exciting day of racing, unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and the rain did not relent during the day. Due to the number of categories entered, many oarsmen did not have sufficient tome to recover and get dry between races, despite this many crews raced well but were unable to win any medals.

Captain: Adam Millar

2013 - 2014 Season

Bann Head

Bann Head saw good results from the Senior club with wins in the J18 2-, J18 4+ and both first and second in the J18 4-.

Festive Head

The J18 8+ finished 4th overall, just behind some strong senior crews, the J16 4+ and J15 2x raced well despite little opposition in their categories but were able to overcome similar age category eights from Methody.

The rest of the head season was filled with disappointment, with one race after another being cancelled due to adverse weather. Fortunately the School's Head in London did not suffer the same fate and went ahead as normal. The 1st VIII+ competed in the Race, but due to their lack of racing experience that season finished 55th overall.

Portadown Regatta

Another disappointment was that Queen's Regatta in Castelwellan had to be cancelled, this meant that Portadown was the first regatta of the season. The regatta saw a win from the Club 4+ and a second place finish from the J18 8+.

Belfast Sprint Regatta

After a bad experience from the previous year's Belfast Sprint regatta, the club entered a smaller number of categories, allowing greater recovery time between races. The regatta saw an impressive win by the J16 4x+ as well a CAI-CAI final in the J18 2-, which was a close fought affair, with the lead changing multiple times, with the pair of Oliver Gage and Jordan Gregg leading at the finish.

Captain: Jonathan Kennedy

2014 - 2015 Season

The end of the 2013 - 2014 season saw the departure of Head Coach Chris Black, who moved on to take up a full time teaching role in England. The role of Head Coach was taken over by another CAI Old Boy, Jonathan Mitchell.

Lagan Head

Lagan Head saw good times being posted by a number of crews, but did not pick up any pennants as they were the only entries in their category.

Erne Head

Erne Head saw only 3 CAI entries, the J18 4+, J18 4x and J16 8+. The J18 4+ was again the only entry in their category, but rowed very well, posting a better time than some Junior and even an Intermediate quad. Despite being beaten by their club mates in the 4+, the quad placed 3rd in their category.

Queen's Regatta

The Junior 4+ raced both in their own category and up a grade in the Club 1 category, they placed 4th in the Junior grade and raced well against older and more experienced opposition from Queen's Carlow and BRC, they acquitted themselves well, keeping withing the pack the whole race and finishing 5th. The J16 4+ finished 2nd and the J15 4x+ finished 3rd.

School's Regatta and Limerick Regatta

The club traveled to take part in the two day event, with Limerick Regatta on Saturday and the School's regatta on the Sunday. Both days they competed against some of the best junior crews from all around Ireland. The oarsmen raced well but were unfortunately unable to win any medals against the high standard of competition. Despite this disappointment a fun weekend and great experience was had by all.

Portadown Regatta

Portadown Regatta saw wins for the Club 4x+, Club 2x and J15 8+ as well as a close race in the J18 4+, who finished 2nd.

Dublin Metropolitan Regatta

Only a 4+ made the trip to Blessington lake to compete in Dublin Metropolitan Regatta, they raced both the J18 and Club 2 Categories. They raced well and placed 2nd in the Junior category. Racing again in the Club 4+ they placed 6th, but due to the peculiarities of the Grand League system, they recorded the 4th fastest time in their category.

Captain: Oliver Gage

2015 - 2016 Season

2015 was a year of great change, CAI amalgamated with Coleraine High School, forming Coleraine Grammar School, and the introduction of rowing for girls at the new school. Jonathan Mitchell having left, the club found itself in the position of not having a full time coach for the first part of the year. COBRA members stepped up to the mark and were able to keep the club ticking over until after Christmas when Jeremy Johnson was appointed as the Head Coach of CGSRC.

With the limited resources of the new club, the rowers did not compete in any head races over the winter.

Schools Regatta

The Schools Championship was the first race of the year, with only 3 crews traveling to Limerick to compete, a U23 2-, U23 2x and J16 1x. Due to the lack of racing experience and turbulent winter training, only the pair made it to their final, but acquitted themselves well, finishing 3rd.

Portadown Regatta

This was the first race for many, with the whole club competing. With medals being picked up by the Mens Club 4x+, Boys J14 4x+, Boys J14 2x and Boys J14 1x. A number of second place finishes were also recorded from the Boys J16 1x, Boys J15 2x, Boys J15 1x (the sculler was racing up a category and had won the J14 1x). Special mention should be made of the Girls crews who performed very well, despite only starting rowing in September, with second places in the J16 8+, J15 8+ and J15 4x+.

Queen's Regatta

Only 4 crews took to the water in Castlewellan, with the Men's Club 4+ racing against older, more experienced oarsmen from Queen's and Dublin Commercial, they rowed well with a respectable 4th place finish. The only medal of the day came from Hugh Moore in the MJ16 1x.

Belfast Sprint Regatta

The 500 meter race in Belfast saw a large entry from CGS, with a number of wins in the MJ16 4x+, Hugh Moore in the MJ16 1x, MJ14 4x+ and the first win for a girls crew in the WJ14 4x+. Second places were also common with the WJ15 4x+, WJ14 1x, MJ14 1x all finishing 2nd.

Captain: Jonathan Woods

2016 - 2017 Season

With more stability in the club at the start of the year, CGS Competed in a number of head races during the winter. But the first major event of the year was the presentation of a new 4x/- to the club from COBRA. The boat was named after COBRA's late patron, Bobbie Platt MBE. On the same day the Stampfili 8+ that COBRA had helped purchase a few years beforehand was named after CAI's Olympians, Richard Archibald.

Bann Head

Pennants were picked up by the Boys J16 8+, Boys J16 1x, Girls J15 4x+ and Girls J15 1x. Special mention should be made of the Girls J15 8+, because they were the only entry in their category, they were ineligible to win a pennant. But they performed well nonetheless, beating a similar age category Men's 8+ from Eniskillen Royal Grammar (formally Portora) as well as two Girls J16 8+s, also from Eniskillen.

Lagan Scullers Head

This was the first taste of racing for many, with the J14 Boys and Girls crews racing well but facing strong competition, lost out on this occasion. The more experienced girls in the WJ16 4x+, WJ16 2x and WJ15 4x+ all won their categories.

Lagan Head

This was the first or second race for many, with all crews rowing well, but unable to overcome their more experienced opposition. The Girl's J15 and J16 8+s both came a close second to Enniskillen, beating 3 other Girls eights and many Boys boats.

Neptune Regatta

The first race of the Regatta season was Neptune Regatta at Islandbridge, Dublin. Unfortunately it was not CGSRC's day. The Boys J15 4x+ fought tooth and nail against the crew from Blackrock College, but were pipped to the post by a very small margin. The Girls J15 8+ easily defeated a Carlow crew in their first race, but drew the eventual winners, Eniskillen in the next heat, they rowed well and lost by just less than a boat length. The bad luck continued with both the Girls J16 4x+ and Boys J14 4x+ both being disqualified, and the Girls J15 4x+ caught a crab in a close race against Bann. The final Disappointment of the day came in the Mens Club 2 4x+, leading a race by over three lengths had a momentary lapse in concentration and struck the bank severely damaging the boat.

School's Regatta

18 rowers made the 600 mile round trip to compete in Limerick at the Irish Schools Rowing Championship where over seventy schools from all over Ireland North and South were represented. While no first place finishes were recorded, a league table was run throughout the event to determine the most successful school and when all racing had finished and the results compiled CGS came in at a very credible joint 13 position making us the most successful Ulster school present.

Portadown Regatta

Portadown was a chance to put the ghosts of Neptune to rest, medals were won by the WJ15 4x+, WJ15 8+, WJ14 2x and MJ14 4x+.
Hugh Moore in the MJ18 1x made the final and fought valiantly to lose only by a short distance to a man a year older, and the MJ14 4x+ raced in a very competitive final against Bann, but an oar coming loose from the gate scuppered their chances of a medal.

Carlow Regatta

Carlow Regatta, despite the rowers having camped out in a back garden the night before, was a successful race with medals won by the MJ15 8+, WJ15 8+ and WJ15 2x.

Athlone Regatta

Only a small contingent of rowers made the trip to Athlone. The seven CGS rowers made 6 finals winning the woman's 14 1x and 16 1x, second place in the men's J18 x1 and third in the woman's J18 1x the men's J18 2x scull and 15 2x.

Irish Championships

Two scullers made the trip to Cork, Hugh Moore in the Mens Junior 18 category and Molly Curry in the Womens Junior 15 and 16 categories. Hugh, racing against a large field of the best scullers in Ireland, led his heat from the start, securing his place in the semi-final. In his next race he again led off the blocks but was overhauled and finished the event a very commendable 13th position.

Molly raced both the Junior 15 and Junior 16 categories, with the J16 category first in the timetable, she finished a close 2nd in her heat, this was improved on in the semi-final, which she won by 8 seconds, securing her the best lane in the final. Due to worsening weather, the finals for both the J15 and J16 1x were postponed to the next day.

The next morning, in much calmer conditions, Molly took to the water for the final of the Womens Junior 16 1x, leading from the start she finished in first place, almost 14 seconds ahead of the second place sculler. An impressive feat, made even more impressive by the fact she was racing girls a year older than herself.

Later that day, Molly raced in a straight final in the J15 1x, this time only over 1500m, she did not let the tiredness from her previous races show, and won this race convincingly as well.

Girls Captain: Caroline Barr
Boys Captain: Hugh Moore

2017 - 2018 Season

Bann Head

Keen to build on the success of the previous year, the rowers took to the water in high spirits for the first race of the new season. Out of the 25 total boats in the first race the MJ15 8+ came a very credible 8th overall, ahead of some older crews. The WJ15 8+ was not far behind, finishing 9th and the fastest ladies boat in the race. The girls J18 4x a new combination put in a good performance which will improve with experience likewise the boys J18 2x double. In the second race, forty small boats competed and CGS entered 5 single sculls, with pennants won in the WJ18 1x and WJ15 1x and a second place finish in the MJ18 1x.

Unfortunately due to poor weather, Lagan Head had to be cancelled.

Commercial Regatta

The first race of the Regatta season saw wins in the WJ16 8+, WJ15 4x+ and WJ15 4x+. The Boys in the J16 4x+ and J15 8+ both put in huge performances, but lost out in the finals. The MJ16 8+ had bad luck, drawing the eventual winners in their heat and only narrowly being beaten.

Schools Championships

39 rowers, 20 boys and 19 girls made the 600 mile return trip to the Irish Schools Championships in Limerick. Winning the WU23 1x, WJ16 8+ and WJ16 4+ as well as a number of top three finishes. CGS was the top Ulster School at the Competition and finished in the top ten of all schools throughout Ireland.

Portadown Regatta

CGS rowers won five events Portadown: MJ18 1x, MJ18 2x+, W Club 4x+, WJ16 8+ and WJ16 1x.

Belfast Sprint Regatta

The 500m sprint race in Belfast saw a smaller than normal entry this year, but CGS nevertheless picked up medals in the MJ18 1x and MJ14 2x as well as second place finishes in the WJ15 1x and WJ14 4x+.

National Schools Regatta

On the same day as her club mates were competing at Belfast Sprints regatta, Molly Curry made the trip over to England to compete in the National Schools Regatta at Eton Dorney, Windsor, where she took on 44 of the UK’s top single scullers. A time trial was initially held to sort out the top sixteen girls with Molly, despite being two years younger than her competition securing a top 10 placing. These sixteen then faced off to decide who made the A final, but Molly just missed out going into the B final as second fastest. In the final, Molly again showed her strength and skill, leading the field after the first 500 metres pulling further clear as the race progressed, she finished on her own 8 seconds clear of second place, posting a time that would have secured a bronze medal position in the A final.

Carlow Regatta

The CGS junior club only took part in the Sunday of the two day event, with the rowers arriving late on Saturday to build the boats and get a good night's sleep for the early start in the morning.
Medals were won in the WJ15 8+, WJ15 2x, WJ14 4x+, MJ15 1x, MJ15 2x and MJ14 4x+.

Craigavon Regatta

CGS had an amazing day at Craigavon Lakes Regatta winning, with the Boys winning the Club 1 4x+, J18 8+, J16 4x+ and J14 2x. The Girls, not to be outdone won the J18 8+, J18 2x, J16 4x+, J16 1x and J14 4x+. Other crews put in sterling performances, making finals and finishing in second or third place positions.

Irish Championships

CGS entered 9 crews in the regatta, but the standard of competition was very high, but the WJ15 Sculler won her straight final. The star of the regatta was by far Molly Curry, coming from her success at the Championships the previous year and at National Schools in May, she showed her strength in the single once again. Against 17 of the best scullers in Ireland, winning the Junior Women’s 1x Championship of Ireland. This was the first win in a Championship event since 1990, when CAI won the Junior 4+.

Coupe de la Jeunesse

After her massively successful year in domestic rowing, Molly was selected to row for Ireland in the Coupe de la Jeunesse regatta in Cork, where she teamed up with the Skibbereen sculler who came 2nd at Champs. Racing in the JW2x, they finished 3rd against crews from all over Europe.

Girls Captain: Gemma Quigg
Boys Captain: Matthew Boyce

2018 - 2019 Season

The winter head season was again one of mostly disappointment, with both Bann Head and Lagan Head both being cancelled at the last minute. This did not discourage the rowers of CGS who showed that they can perform as well off the water as on it. This is best represented by the results from the Ulster Indoor Championship, held at Queen's. With CGS rowers winning 1st place in: J14 Girls, J14 Boys, J15 Girls, J15 Boys, J16 Girls and J16 Boys Individual as well as winning the J14 Girls, J14 Boys and J 16 Boys Relay.

Carrick-on-Shannon Head

With Bann head being cancelled, this was the first head race of the season, with 8 crews entered in the race, CGS achieved very respectable results, with the WJ18 2x, MJ16 8+ and WJ16 8+ winning their categories, with a further 3 second place finishes in the MJ18 4+, MJ14 4x+ and WJ14 4x+.

Erne Head

All 32 school rowers faced character building weather conditions at Erne Head of the River. Enormous credit goes every one of them. They competed in driving rain and wind giving maximum effort without complaint. The girls J18 4x- and J18 4+ both won their classes and the other boys and girls J16 8’s and mens J18 4+ rowed with distinction.

Lagan Scullers Head

Over 40 keen athletes travelled to Belfast for Lagan Scullers HOR, many for their first race. Conditions were challenging with gusty winds but the rain/snow even managed to subside and produced sunny conditions for the days racing. All competitors performed with distinction, especially those on their first outing with the rowing club. Wins were collected in the WJ16 1x, WJ15 1x and WJ14 1x. The MJ15 2x had a fantastic race and finished top of their category by over 3 minutes.

Foyle Head

After many years absence, City of Derry Boat Club once again organised a Foyle Head of the River, which runs through the city and spectators were afforded excellent views from the Peace Bridge. The School competed against Bann RC in four boat classes and unfortunately came out second in all four races. Other CGS crews posted excellent times despite not having any competition.

Schools Championship

A change of venue for the Schools regatta saw CGS travelling to Lough Rynn in Leitrim. The racing day commenced with moderate winds. Early medals were won by the WJ15 8+ and second place finishes in the MJ16 8+ and WJ16 4+. The WU23 2x won their heat in comfort, but the winds worsened forcing the remainder of the regatta to be cancelled due to safety concerns. This came as a massive disappointment to the 57 rowers, the vast majority not getting a chance to compete at all.
Prior to cancellation CGS, Methody and Colaiste Iognaid all won gold putting the school well on track for a top three finish, very frustrating.

Portadown Regatta

After the disappointment of the Schools regatta, 23 crews travelled to Portadown in good spirits. Medals were won in the MJ18 4+, WJ16 2x, WJ16 1x and WJ15 4x+ as well as second place in the MJ16 1x, MJ14 4x+, WJ18 1x and WJ15 8+.

National Schools Regatta

This year saw a number of crews make the trip to London to compete in the National Schools regatta at Eton Dorney, Championship Girls Scull (ChG 1x), Championship Boys Pair (Ch 2-), J16 Girls Double (J16G 2x) and J16 Boys 8 (J16 8+).

Molly Curry raced the Championship Girls Single Scull, the same event she placed 7th in the previous year. In the time trial, Molly finished 3rd, less than two seconds from first place, securing her place in the semi-final. In that race she finished 2nd, with the top 4 scullers progressing to the A-Final. In the final, Molly led from the start, maintaining her lead throughout the race, she finished in first place, 2 seconds ahead of 2nd place, as well as setting a new National Schools record in the process.

The Boys Championship Pair had a difficult race by their usual standards. This coupled with being against Team GBs top juniors meant they only managed 19th position in their time trials out of a field of 23 boats. A disappointing result for the boys but they can hold their heads high considering the standard of rowing that was on display at the event.

J16 Girls 2x rowed to a fantastic 3rd in their time trail, at the start of the day, and then stormed to victory during their semi-final. Once in the final the girls came up against the best J16 doubles in Britain and managed to come home in a fantastic 5th place.

Carlow Regatta

Once again the the CGSRC junior club made the trip to Carlow Regatta. Before high winds brought a halt to proceedings the club managed to collect medals in the WJ16 8+, WJ15 8+ and MJ15 4x+ special mention goes to the Girls J14 2x, lost out by only a foot when crossing the finish line. Sadly quite a few crews had entered to row in the events that were cancelled by the bad weather, so the medal total would have hopefully continued to climb.

University Boat Race

CGSRC travelled to Belfast to compete in the Ulster Championships hosted by Queens University Belfast Rowing Club as part of the University Boat Race.
The Boys J16 8+, competing for the coveted Craig Cup, had a fantastic time trial but unfortunately came up against very strong competition so sadly didn’t qualify for the final.
The Girls J16 8+, racing for the newly established Iain Kennedy cup, had great row and qualified for their final. However the Enniskillen Royal Grammar School J16 8+ that they met were just too good and our girls came home in 2nd place.
Lastly the Girls J18 8+ faced MCB in the final of the Bobbie Platt Cup, they rowed a fantastic race and took the win convincingly and were delighted to be crowned Ulster Champions 2019.

Athlone Regatta

CGSRC travelled to Athone on Friday evening staying over in a local B&B. Medals were won by both the WJ18 1x and M Club 2 4+. While the WClub 2 1x, M Club 2 4+, WJ16 1x and J18 8+ finished all finished in third place in strong fields. The Girls J18 4x- rowed a good race but sadly were on the tough side of a strong heat and didn’t qualify for the final.

Craigavon Regatta

Craigavon Lakes Regatta which is hosted by the Ulster Branch of Rowing Ireland. For most of our junior rowers this is only the second opportunity throughout the season where they get to experience the thrilling nature of multi-lane side-by-side racing. CGS had a successful day of racing winning 8 of the 17 categories that the club’s athletes were entered in. The wins were as follows; M J18 4+, W Club 1x, W J18 8+, W J18 4x+, W J15 2x, W J15 1x, W J14 2x and Girls Invitational 8+

Three very hard fought 2nd place finishes were also achieved by CGS athletes. The MJ16 1x rowed fantastically through heats to the final only to meet very strong opposition from Carlow Rowing Club. Also the MJ15 8+ had an outstanding race against MCB only losing out on the gold medal position by a foot when they crossed the line. Finally the MJ15 1x also performed well through heats to get to the A final to finish in the second place.

Irish Championships

29 CGS rowers made the long journey to Cork to the National Rowing Centre for the Irish Championships. The weekend was blessed with absolutely fantastic weather and flat calm conditions on Saturday and Sunday. All athletes performed well and should be proud of how they rowed and represented the school and their rowing club this weekend.

Stand out performances came from our the WC 1x sculler, who was up against other athletes a lot older than her, but she stepped up to the plate and rowed through heats and semi-finals to finish in a fantastic 6th place in the final of the Woman’s Club 1x. Also huge congratulations to the WJ15 1x who won her final. This talented young lady also picked up a particularly kind compliment from one of the commentators of her race as being one of the ‘ones to watch’ for the future!

The MJ15 1x rowed a great race coming home in third place in his final. From an athlete that has done very limited sculling this year this is a fantastic achievement.

Both Boys and Girls J16 8+’s were very unlucky not to progress to their respective finals but the Girls J16 8+ did give us probably the most exciting race of the whole weekend, as they jostled with Galway RC A J16 8+ for the final qualifying place down the 2km Inniscarra race course.

The Girls J18 4x- raced brilliantly progressing to the semi final and finishing in 5th place. This was great race experience for this young crew where bigger things are sure to come in the future.

The WJ18 1x, still only J16 and trying for a Homes International seat, rowed a good race but sadly came up just short of qualification but with still another potential 2 years in this event, the only way is up!

The MJ18 2- had a solid performance in their time trial for international selection. Our boys have only been rowing this boat together for a number of weeks and have showed promising speed when mixing with the main sweep clubs in Ireland.

Junior World Championships

Once again, Molly Curry was selected to represent Ireland on the international stage, this time at the Junior World Championships in Tokyo, racing the JW2x. With the large number of entries, only the winner of each heat would progress directly to the A/B Semi-final. Despite rowing well, Molly and her crewmate finished 2nd. Fortunately, they had a second chance in the repechage, powering through their competition they finished 1st, securing their place in the A/B Semi-final. In the semi-final, they raced well, fighting off the Belgians for most of the race, then the Italians in the final stages, finishing 3rd and qualifying for the A-Final. In the final, Molly and Rhiannon rowed a fantastic race against the best crews in the world. Coming across the line in 5th place, but within touching distance of the Germans in 4th. Despite not winning a medal, both girls were a real credit to their families, and Molly to Coleraine Grammar School Rowing Club, with everyone immensely proud of their achievement.

Girls Captain: Laura Williamson
Boys Captain: Jay McCafferty

2019 - 2020 Season

Portadown Marascull

The 2019/20 season began with a trip to the Bann Foot, where the Upper Bann enters Lough Neagh. Where the crews would launch and race a grueling 16km upstream to Portadown Boat Club. Wins were picked up in the WJ18 2-, MJ18 2-, WJ18 1x, WJ16 4X+, WJ15 1x and MJ15 1x. With the WJ18 sculler picking up the unofficial fastest sculler time.

Bann HeadBann head, while not the first race of the season for the club was the first time this year that a number of rowers were able to take to the water and race. Pennants were picked up in WI 1x, WJ18 1x WJ16 4x+ and MJ16 4x+ who also managed to set the fastest time of the day. Another notable performance came from the MJ18 2-, who due to being the only entry in their category were ineligible for a pennant. The were, however, the fastest pair of the day, beating 2 Intermediate pairs from QUB.

Carrick-on-Shannon Head

Four crews took to the water for the first race of the day where there was a total of 94 crews competing. The Men’s J18 2- narrowly missed out on the pennant by only half a second. The Woman’s J18 4x- came home in second place, not far behind a strong 4x- from Commercial Rowing Club. The Men’s J16 4x+ crossed the line in a creditable 3rd place along with the Woman’s J15 8+.

Six crews raced in the second race of the day where another 88 crews competed. This race was shortened by some 700m due to increased winds creating difficult conditions. CGSRC collected wins in the Woman’s Club 1x, Woman’s J18 1x and Woman’s J16 1x. Fantastic racing in particular to our woman’s club sculler who tussled with a sculler from Neptune Rowing Club throughout the whole race to come home with the win. The Woman’s J18 2- and Woman’s J16 4x+ both finished in 2nd place in their categories and finally the Men’s J15 8+ finished in a well rowed 3rd place.

2020 started with disappointment as a number of heads were cancelled to poor weather, though many rowers were hoping that the improving weather and fast approaching regatta season would offer much more chances at racing. Unfortunately, Covid-19 meant that the rest of the season's racing and even on the water training had to be cancelled.
This did not mean that training and competition stopped, with many rowers training by themselves on ergs in garages and living rooms in anticipation of getting back on the water. There were also a number 'Virtual Regattas' being held by a number of clubs across Ireland, where competitors would race each other on the erg across Zoom. While not a real substitute for a real regatta it did provide some racing and a semblance of normality.

Girls Captain: Kirsty Dalzell
Boys Captain: Angus Bryce