The Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre in Cork proved to be another successful one for Portora Boat Club as they came away from three days of competitive rowing with six Irish titles in the bag. 
Stand out in all of this was undoubtedly on Friday when the Men’s J18 8 won the title in what was also one of the most dramatic races of the entire weekend. 
Having not won the coveted title for 34 years before their 2014 success, Portora have now won three in a row but none probably quite as dramatic as this one with Portora prevailing by 0.4 of a second over Cork Boat Club.
The thrilling success delighted the large Portora support on the ‘beach’ with this a particularly excellent win as Portora had lost out to Cork only three weeks ago.
The winning Portora crew which was coxed by Rory Farragher was James Foster, Ross Corrigan, Sam Armstrong, Conor McLaughlin, Nathan Timoney, Odhran Donaghy, Sean O’Hare Smith and Aaron Johnston. 
A notable win too for Cambridge bound Sam Armstrong the only rower to have rowed in all three winning Portora teams since 2014.
Head coach Derek Holland, speaking immediately after the win, admitted the work the boys had put in since their exams helped turn the tables with Cork but admitted it was so exciting he found it hard to watch.
“Very delighted to have won the title for three years in a row but to be honest, I am just trying to compose myself, it is probably the first Portora race in my time that I could not watch!
“I was nearly physically sick but I knew three weeks ago there was a good Cork crew and I did not want any surprises so we came down and they beat us. The last two weeks, we upped the intensity, we knew it was going to be tight but I believed in them and the finish was thrilling.” 
Another superb win was that of Barney Rix and Ryan Ballantine in the Men’s Intermediate Pair as they powered clear in the final 500m to win clear water and secure the first over 18 win by a Portora crew at the Irish Rowing Championships since 1957. 
There was disappointment for the Women’s J18 8 as they had to settle for third in their final with an excellent crew from Cork winning out while they did improve in the Club final finishing second to a strengthened Cork crew. 
The Women’s J16 8 who produced a season’s best performance but lost out narrowly by a length to Galway crew Colaisté Iognaíd. 
The Men’s J16 eight also had to settle for second going down by a length to Cork while the Boys’ J15 8 and Men’s J18 Four also took second place finishes behind Galway rivals St. Joseph’s Rowing Club.. 
There was some good success at the younger age groups with three titles at Junior 15 level.
On Friday there was an Irish title for the Women’s J15 4X+, as the crew of Darerca Daly Hutton, Victoria Wilson, Abby Corry and Caoimhe Leonard coxed by Ben Corrigan held off the challenge of Lee Rowing Club in Cork to win.
The Girls’ Junior 15 8 of Zoe McCutcheon, Trudie McComb, Maria O’Doherty, Victoria Wilson, Caoimhe Leonard, Abby Corry, Darerca Daly Hutton, Rebecca Conway and coxed by Sarah Dolan won their final leading from the start to win well over a 1,500m course.  
The Boys J15 quad rowed through boys from Shandon much bigger than themselves to win their title a great feat for the crew of Andrew Bell, Michael Stewart, Conor Stewart and Ben Corrigan coxed by Darerca Hutton. 
Veteran Gerry Murphy also won gold, his eighth Irish Rowing Championships gold medal in nine years as he won the Men’s Masters Single Sculls. 
Elsewhere, there were notable performances from the Men’s J18 Pair of James Foster and Ross Corrigan who finished second just ahead of Sam Armstrong and Aaron Johnston into second while Nathan Timoney and Jack Kennedy raced hard to make it into semis of J16 sculls despite doing no sculling all year.
At the Boat Club’s end of championship President’s Presentation Zoe McCutcheon and Sean O’Hare received the Presidents Award for their dedication and commitment throughout the year.