As is often the way, it was a rollercoaster weekend for Enniskillen Royal Boat Club and head coach Derek Holland as the ups of the girls crews had to be balanced against the down of the agonising defeat in the Boys’ J18 8.

That said, Derek was quick to also point out the successes of the younger crews a week earlier at the National Rowing Centre in what has been a challenging but “outstanding” season as a whole.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter as the dust settled, he reflected: “The girls did very well to win the two titles there’s no doubt about it but it was very disappointing for the boys to lose in the manner they did.

“But, I suppose that is sport, it’s cruel and we have no excuses, the boys did everything they could but could not hold on for that last little bit.

“St. Joseph’s Galway and ERBC have been the dominant crews in the last 15 years at this age group and they were well ahead of the other crews and we knew all along it would be very close and that is how it turned out, a photo finish.”

On the fact that it took 20 minutes to call the winner, Derek added: “It was all a bit bizarre, the photo they produced shows the bow ball of St. Joseph’s one centimetre closer to the line than ours. It took them a long time to come to the decision.”

Narrow margins indeed, but there was no such drama for the Girls’ J18 8 or quad.

“I was really happy for the girls,” said the coach. “The four started really well, led from start to finish and won convincingly. The eight did the same pretty much to overcome St. Michael’s, Limerick and won by six seconds, two boat lengths which was a good performance and they thoroughly deserved their successes.”

The bigger picture is also bright for the club, says Derek.

“Overall it was a difficult year as everyone regrouped after the pandemic restrictions but it was also an outstanding season as a whole. The younger junior rowers did fantastically last week and throughout the season. We will take a break and regroup.

“Any setbacks will not determine our status as a major player in Irish junior rowing. It is elite level, there are not many sports where you train nine times a week but when it comes down to one centimetre, you can see why we do it or we would not count.”