Ryan Ballantine became the latest Fermanagh rower to make his mark on the World stage as he helped Ireland U23s to silver at the World U23 Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland last weekend.
Ryan, who was part of the Irish Lightweight Men’s Quad along with UCD’s Andrew Goff, Niall Beggan (Commercial) and Miles Taylor (QUBBC), was delighted with the outcome as they came home behind Italy and ahead of USA to secure second place in a hotly contested race.
Ireland had aimed on building on last year’s World U23s when they finished third and Ryan, who was one of the new crew members for this year’s championships, admitted that they had high hopes going into the competition.
“Going into the Worlds we knew we were quick as two of the crew were returning from last year,” he said. 
“A few crews had raced senior World Cup events and medalled so the standard was always going to be high. I had the opportunity to trial for GB this year however my heart was always set for with Ireland. The standard of Irish lightweight rowing is at an all time high, especially when all Irish lightweight boats made A finals compared to GB who didn’t make an A final in any lightweight category.”
Enniskillen Royal Boat Club member Ballantine felt that the crew showed good improvement throughout the competition as they came through the repechage following the heats to secure their place in the A Final.
“As the competition progressed, we started to race better. We won our repechage to qualify for the A final which we controlled from the start. The A final was always going to be a dog fight, especially at the 1K mark when 0.9 seconds separated first and fourth. We knew we would be in contention for medals if we stuck with the crews through the 1K as our sprint was the strong point of the crew,” he stated.
Ryan will now enjoy a few days off but he will soon be back on the water with trials for the senior Ireland team for the World Championships on the horizon.
“I have a few days off now to celebrate, as I couldn’t celebrate the 21st as I was rowing!
“I have been invited to senior trials for the World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in September. I will sit down with my coaches at Newcastle, which is a GB high performance centre, and plan our year ahead. 
Who knows what’s on the horizon, The olympics would be the ultimate dream.
“I’d like to thank Newcastle University, Enniskillen Royal Boat Club (Ian Kennedy and Derek Holland) and the Fermanagh trust for their support,” he concluded.
Previous Fermanagh rowers who won medals at the World U23 Championships include Chris Abraham and Leonora Kennedy who won bronze and gold respectively in 2009 for Ireland and Holly Nixon who won bronze for GB in 2015.