Indoor rowing is as tough as the real thing but there is no water involved! Instead, the rowers use the rowing ergometers which are ubiquitous in every gym – the numbers on the screens tell the story.

A small group of Enniskillen Royal Boat Club rowers went to the University of Limerick arena to compete against the best in Ireland and the winter training for the rowers of ERBC paid off with plenty of hard-won medals and other good performances.

Zara Welsh, in the girls’ Junior 15 5-minute race, had a tough assignment and finished a good fifth just a few metres behind a girl from Sligo.

In the same age group, she was fourth in the 500-metre event, 0.6 seconds behind third, so she can be well-pleased with her first visit to these championships.

Luke Bailey then took a silver medal in the Junior 15 5 minute race after a hard race against a Skibbereen rower and repeated the feat in the 500-metre race – a man on a mission.

Austin Cassidy and Ryan Topping were fifth and sixth in the 5-minute event, and Bruno Maguire-Favro finished well up the large field.

Luke Bailey, Evan Donaghy, Austin Cassidy along with Andrew Cuthbertson entered the boys’ Junior 15 2,000-metre relay race and were second equal.

Evan, Andrew and Ryan were still not finished and all three finished in the top 10 of the J15 500-metre with an entry of 56. They were also in the top 10 of the 1,000-metre race.

Joshua Ihnat in the Junior 14 500 metre literally blew the rest of the 76-man field out of the water, setting a blistering time of 1.30.2 – some 5 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

In the Junior 16 boys category, George Kernaghan won two medals. In the 2,000-metre race he covered the distance in 6 minutes and 42 seconds to take a fine third place.

In the 500-metre race, he was third equal with a Limerick rower in a time of 1 minute 29.5 seconds.

This is his first really serious season of rowing and he got a just reward for the winter work.

Finally, it is good to record the exploits of Acorn Cassidy, who won two medals.

In the top girls event she took a valiant third place in the 2000-metre Junior 18 race. Her time of 7 minutes 7 seconds is a club record for her age and in a thrilling finish she nearly overhauled the girl from Kenmare for second.

The winner was Holly Davis – a well-established Irish international rower – but Acorn has now shown that Fermanagh can compete with the best.

She won the 500-metre event by a distance, beating the Irish record for the second time in two weeks, and she can be very satisfied with her trip to Limerick.

This is the first time since Covid-19 that the Erne rowers have appeared in the indoor championships and the indications are that the season ahead will be successful.

 

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