A NOVICE rowing crew from Trinity College had a lucky escape from the fast-flowing waters under Enniskillen’s West Bridge on Saturday, when they were rescued by a police team after their boat snapped in half during the Erne Head of the River.

Two police officers were quickly on the scene to haul the seven men and one woman out of the river and into their rescue boat as the annual rowing fixture threatened to descend into tragedy.

Reserve Constable Ian Gillespie said that if he and his colleague, Constable Gavin Huey, had not been at the scene of the accident, there would most likely have been fatalities. “It all happened so quickly, it’s all a bit of a blur. Thankfully we got them out okay. For two of them anyway, there’s no doubt that if we hadn’t got to them would’ve drowned.”

The torrential rain and occasional snowfall of the past few weeks meant that the river was much higher than usual, and flowing with even greater force, particularly at the notoriously treacherous West Bridge, where the channel narrows significantly.

Given the dangerous conditions, many of the slower and novice crews were told not to compete, and only 31 out of the original 87 entrants took to the water, the Trinity novice crew of eight rowers and one coxswain among them.

Reserve Constable Gillespie said that crew were on their way up river to the starting line.