New name but the same high level of performance from Fermanagh’s rowers at national level was the message to emerge from the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships in the University of Limerick Sports Arena at the weekend.

Not even a lengthy delay due to an evacuation due to a fire could put the newly named and white hot Enniskillen Royal Boat Club off their stroke as they came home with a remarkable haul of 10 gold medals, four silver and two bronze.

Add in a number of personal bests and the Boat Club is well placed as the competition season starts to get underway.

Luke Paton started the day’s medal rush in the first race of the day as he claimed silver in the Boys’ Junior 13 category. Abby Corry went one better in the second race of the day to claim gold in the Girls’ Junior 14, achieving a total distance of 1043 metres in four minutes, seven metres more than second place. Rory Gamble had to wait a little longer for confirmation of his gold as a technical glitch delayed the final heat of the Boys’ Junior 15 event. Nonetheless, Rory held on for a 14 metre victory over second place.

Zoe McCutcheon once again produced the standout performance of the day to win the Girls’ Junior 16 category. Zoe’s time of seven minutes and eighteen seconds over 2,000 metres was eight seconds quicker than her closest competitor and would have placed her fourth in the Girls’ Junior 18 event. Ross Corrigan set the standard in the Boy’s Junior 18 event to win with over four seconds to spare.

The afternoon session proved even more successful as Abby Corry, Zoe McCutcheon, and Ross Corrigan added a second gold to their medal tallies as they won over the shorter 500 metre sprint in their respective age categories while Mia-Jayne Elliot also claimed victory in the Girl’s Junior 18 category by two tenths of a second. Rory Gamble also won bronze.

Following a delay for the aforementioned fire evacuation, the team relay events, raced over 2,000 metres in teams of four to round off the intense day of racing. The Girls’ Year Three team (Zoe McCutcheon, Victoria Wilson, Caoimhe Leonard and Trudie McComb) and Year Four Team (Caitlynn Fee, Jessica Long, Maria O’Doherty and Rebecca Conway) claimed two further gold medals. There was also three more silver medals for Boys’ Year Three Team and Girls’ Year One and Two Teams, while the Boys’ Year Five Team added a final bronze to club’s overall medal tally.

There was also a notable performance by Maeve Donnelly in the Girls Junior 15 event raced over five minutes. Having only started rowing in September, Maeve missed out on a bronze medal by one metre after a count back found a machine rounding error. Nonetheless this was an outstanding performance for an athlete with a bright future.

The success in Limerick was the result of a successful winter period by all in the gym. Next up for Enniskillen Royal Boat Club is Lagan Scullers Head of the River on Saturday, February 11 where the club hopes to exhibit its dominance back on the water.