It was the full rollercoaster of emotions for the rowers of Enniskillen Royal Boat Club (ERBC) at a highly competitive Irish Rowing Championships in Cork at the weekend as there was double joy for the girls but an agonising photo finish defeat for the boys in blue riband J18 8.

Indeed, the J18 8 final was the race of the championship as St. Joseph’s College from Galway and the ERBC crew of Tom Blake, Marcus Davis Kunze, Oran Harty, Tim Murphy, Lewis Nixon, Charlie Smith, Nathan Kelly, Luke Paton and cox Grace Ralph went toe to toe for the entire 2,000m course.

Dramatic finish

ERBC started well and took the lead in the first 500m and pretty much maintained that for the race although they were able to get clear water and the champions from last year kept them in their sight.

A kick from St. Joseph’s took them into a narrow lead in the final 100m to which ERBC responded and they both dramatically hit the finishing line together in an identical time of six minutes 16.7 seconds. Presentation College Cork were a distant third.

A photo finish, which somehow took 20 minutes for the judges to deliberate upon, ended with St. Joseph’s being declared the winners by a margin of what looked to be a centimetre.

A tough loss for the boys while the quality of the race and the narrowness of the defeat may offer some comfort but that may take a while.

The J18 Girls, however, had no such dramas as they stamped their authority as the best crew in Ireland by winning the J18 coxless 4 final comfortably and then taking the J18 8 by two lengths in another competitive final.

The coxless four crew led from start to finish for a resounding win as the crew of Áine McCaffrey, Laura Turner, Acorn Cassidy and Katie Donnelly enjoyed a fantastic win over Bann RC in a time of seven minutes 41.8 seconds.

That race was on the Saturday which the girls eyeing a double the following day in the Girls’ J18 8 final.

The crew of Áine McCaffrey, Laura Turner, Acorn Cassidy, Katie Donnelly Martha McBrien, Chloe Thompson, Niamh Campbell, Rachel Cullinan and cox Grace Ralph held their nerve to produce a fine row to take the title and the win over St Michael’s RC, Limerick.

The ERBC girls completed the course in seven minutes 19.3 seconds with five seconds to spare much to the delight of all the supporters who had made the journey to Cork.

Elsewhere the Boys Junior coxed Four of Tom Blake, Marcus Davis Kunze, Tim Murphy, Charlie Smith and cox Katelyn Fee finished second behind St Joseph’s while there was a third place finish for the Boys’ Club Eight behind the university crews from Trinity and UCD; crew being Callum Timoney, Kyle Abraham, Oran Harty, Lewis Nixon, John O’Kane, Conor Richardson, Nathan Kelly, Luke Paton and cox Frankie Reihill.

On the first day of the championships on Friday, the J16 quad of Oliver Khew, Rory Keogh, Jacob Halliday, Joshua Coalter and cox Katelyn Fee took part in a time trial producing a time of seven minutes14.5 seconds but just missed out on the final six.

Junior 16 scullers Matthew Shaw, Jacob Halliday, Joshua Coalter and Oliver Khew, at their first Irish Championships, all rowed well but unfortunately they didn’t make it through to Sunday morning’s final.

There were four Boys’ Double Scull crews in action on Sunday in the time trials but they didn’t qualify for the final although the crew of Tom Blake and Lewis Nixon came very close.

The Men’s Intermediate Coxed Four of Charlie Smith, Marcus Davis Kunze, Tim Murphy, Oran Harty and Frankie Rehill came fourth in their heat and missed out on the final.

After their success in the Junior four and the eight there was a fourth place finish for Aine McCaffrey, Laura Turner, Acorn Cassidy and Katie Donnelly in the final of the Coxless Quad which finished off a busy weekend for the local crews at the National Rowing Centre.

Senior medal for Corrigan

There was Fermanagh success elsewhere at the championships as former ERBC rower and Irish international, Ross Corrigan won gold representing Queen’s University Belfast in a composite crew with University College Cork rowing club.

This was Corrigan’s first senior medal at the rowing championships having won previously as a junior with ERBC.