Queen's Rowing News

Captains' Address

Captains - Jason Armstrong & Ellie Holmes

Jason Armstrong - Men’s Club Captain

Hello, I’m Jason Armstrong, Captain of QUBBC for the 2015-16 rowing season. I would like to introduce myself, and give you all an insight into our plans for the season ahead.

I grew up around rowing as a child, both my parents rowed for Queen’s and I often found myself at Queen’s boathouse waiting for my father to finish his training. When I wasn’t squeezing pennies in the vice, or pushing rocks into the river and getting scolded by Tom, I was taking in the atmosphere and wondering when I could row at Queen’s. Fast-forward 10 years and there I was, down for my first session at the boathouse wondering why everything had shrunk. Now in my final year at Queen’s University I have the privilege of being a 2^nd generation captain and 3^rd generation rower of QUBBC.

Last season had a very promising start for our intermediate squad with massive potential being shown from our three 8+ strong squad. Unfortunately, due to various circumstances we had a high drop off rate around Christmas. This left us with a squad composed of mainly novices brought up from the year before and a few intermediate and senior rowers. Nevertheless, in typical Queen’s fashion, we stormed into very successful head and regatta seasons with wins at Bann, Erne, Cork, Queen’s and Irish Champs. The novice men showed us how it should be done by winning at every event they entered with exceptions being Queen’s Regatta where they raced Club level boats rather than novice level.

We are fortunate to be entering this season with a 30 man strong squad. We aim to use the winner’s atmosphere created last season to take a step forward and attack the intermediate and senior categories. With a structured training program set out by our head coach and the dedication from our eager athletes I feel this step forward is well within our grasp. With some of our athletes pursuing an international rowing career we plan to continue to support them and welcome the professional atmosphere it brings to the club.

With the strength of our squad this year we will be focusing on 8’s racing. Early plans for our calendar include events we would normally attend such as Bann, Lagan and Erne. We also have plans to attend London HoRR in March. We aim to hold approximately 3 training camps at strategic points of the year to further accelerate progress.

Overall, I am very excited for Queen’s this year. The skill and tenacity of the squad will allow us to work off one another to achieve our full potential. The mind-set among the athletes this year should see many of them return next season to allow us to take another important step forward as a club. If anyone has any questions about anything to do with the club, please feel free to get in contact with me using the email listed on this website. I look forward to seeing many of you at the annual dinner, details of which shall be available soon. Until then, I would personally like to thank you for all of the support you provide for the club, and hope to see you throughout the year.

Ellie Holmes - Ladies Club Captain

Hi I’m Ellie, I’m in my final year of a joint degree in Criminology and Sociology and this will be my third year with the Queen’s Ladies Boat Club. Having previously rowed with Broxbourne Rowing Club as a junior, I was keen to carry on rowing when joining the university. Immediately I was welcomed into the club, enjoying training, working and socialising with rowers both in and out of the boathouse. Being actively involved with the club has taught me so much and its members have become my family away from home.

I’m hoping to build on the solid of performances of last year, particularly in head season, from both the novices and intermediate squad. Queen’s Ladies had athletes’ trial for GB rowing and Rowing Ireland, the novice’s 8+ win at Irish University Champs and the qualification for a number of A finals at British University Championships and Irish National Championships. None of this would have been possible without the dedication of the club’s volunteer coaches, alumni members and supporters. Although we have not always achieved our desired results we have learnt a lot and are motivated to work even harder. I can promise you every member is out to prove that Queen’s Ladies are a force to be reckoned with at both local and national events. We have a steely determination to improve on the performances of last year despite the weather conditions, time commitment, and huge effort that we face. However, this year we have the pleasure of returning to our newly refurbished boathouse with state-of-the-art facilities.

As always I would like to thank everyone who continually helps and supports our club. This year promises to be very exciting and I would encourage anyone wanting to try rowing to join us and give it a go!

Annual Ladies' and Mens' Dinners of QUBLBC and QUBBC - Friday 4th and Saturday 5th December

Venue for both dinners is The Great Hall, Lanyon Building. Ticket price for each event is £40 (£35 for current rowers)

Annual dinner of the Ladies' club: Saturday 5 December, 2015 - click here for more info and to book your place

Annual dinner of the Mens' club: Friday 4th December, 2015 - click here for more info and to book your place

Check here regularly for news updates, race results, photos and feedback from our two clubs captains Ellie Holmes and Jason Armstrong.

More news and archives at (wait to load):

Queen's Rowing

BUCS Regatta 2014 Roundup
7 May 2020

Queen’s Rowing had a very successful weekend at BUCS Regatta 2014 taking home medals in 7 different categories.

Conditions were probably the best that we will see for the next number of years with flat calm conditions on Day 1, very slight headwind on Day 2 and a moderate crosswind on Day 3. Throughout the competition there was sunshine all through the day.

Below will be a summary of each clubs efforts over the weekend.

MEN

Men’s Beginners VIII+ QUB A
Cox- Peter Ramsey, Joel Kelly, Lloyd White, Phil Patton, Phil Doyle, Oliver Graham, John Vincent, Jonny Erskine and Gareth Herron
2nd in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 1st
Final A – 1st Gold Medal

Men’s Beginners VIII+ QUB B
Cox – Ruairi Leonard, Jordan Allen, Ross Williamson, Ryan McCormick, Chris Rice, Adam Gallagher, Ben Smith, Josh Sets and Jonaah Gordon-Boyd
18th in Time Trial
Final C – 5th

Men’s Beginners IV+ QUB A
Cox – Peter Ramsey, Joel Kelly, Phil Doyle, Oliver Graham and Lloyd White
2nd in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 1st
Final A – 1st Gold Medal

Men’s Beginners IV+ QUB B
Cox- Ruairi Leonard, Jordy Allen, Ross Williamson, Ryan McCormick and Jonaah Gordon-Boyd
17th in Time Trial
Final C – 3rd

Men’s Intermediate Lightweight 1x
Time Trial
Christopher Beck – 1st
James McKelvey – 3rd
Jason Armstrong – 18th
Luke McCann – 6th
Liam Moran – 22nd
Ben Evans – 21st
Mark McMullan – 12th
Semi Final A
James McKelvey - 1st
Luke McCann – 3rd
Semi Final B
Chris Beck – 1st
Mark McMullan – 6th
Final A
Chris Beck – 1st Gold Medal
James McKelvey – 4th
Luke McCann – 6th
Final B
Mark McMullan – 6th
Final C
Jason Armstrong – 1st
Final D
Liam Moran – 1st
Ben Evans – 4th

Men’s Intermediate 1x
Tiernan Oliver
2nd in Time Trial
Semi Final – 1st
Final A – 4th

Men’s Championship Lightweight 2x QUB A
Chris Beck and James McKelvey
3rd in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 1st
Final A – 3rd

Men’s Championship Lightweight 2x QUB B
Jason Armstrong and Luke McCann
11th in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 6th

Men’s Intermediate 2x
Tiernan Oliver and Gareth McKillen
1st in Time Trial
Semi Final B – 1st
Final A – 2nd

Men’s Championship Lightweight 4x
Jason Armstrong, Luke McCann, Liam Moran and Mark McMullan
5th in Time Trial
Final A – 5th

Men’s Intermediate 4x
Chris Beck, Adam Boreham, Tiernan Oliver, Gareth McKillen
1st in Time Trial
Semi final A – 1st
Final A – 1st

WOMEN

Women’s Intermediate 2- QUB A
Dineka Maguire and Ruth Taylor
7th in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 3rd
Final A – 6th

Women’s Intermediate 2- QUB A
Rachel Brown and Jane Cunningham
17th in Time Trial
Final C – 5th

Women’s Intermediate 4x-
Ellie Holmes, Roisin Maguire, Emma McKee and Alicia Green
10th in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 5th
Final B – 3rd

Women’s Beginner 1x
Jennifer Whittaker
12th in Time trial
Semi Final B – 6^thB final – 5^th

Women’ Intermediate 8+
Cox – Catherine Campbell, Niamh Menary, Jane Cuuningham, Rachel Brown, Emma McKee, Dineka Maguire, Ruth Taylor, Rebecca Edwards, Rebecca Mackey
8th in Time trialSemi Final B – 5^thFinal B – 1^st

Women’s Champioship Lightweight 1x
Mary-Beth Toner
9th in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 5^th

Women’s Beginner 4+ QUB A
Cox – Carol Moorehead, Molly Kerr, Stephanie McIvor, Lana Mullen and Niamh Cassidy
12th Time TrialSemi-Final B – 5^thFinal B– 4^th

Women’s Beginner 4+QUB B
Cox – Alice Murdoch, Carrie Kelly, Brooke Burnside, Rosanna McBrien and Samantha Fisher
22th Time TrialSemi-Final B – 5^thFinal D – 6th

Women’s Intermediate 2x
Rebecca Edwards and Rebecca Mackey
2nd in Time TrialSemi-Final A – 1^stFinal A– 3^rd Bronze Medal

Rebecca Mackey and Edwards with their Bronze Medal

Women’s Championship Lightweight 4x-
Mary-Beth Toner, Alice McPherson, LJ Watson and Jane Cunningham
8th in Time TrialSemi-Final B – 4^th

Women’s Beginner 8+ QUB A
Cox – Carol Moorehead, Samantha Fisher, Alice Foynes, Niamh Cassidy, Rosanna McBrien, Stephanie McIvor, Carrie Kelly, Lois Kelso and Lana Mullen
12th in Time trial
Semi Final B – 2^ndFinal A – 4^th

Women’s Beginner 8+ QUB B
Cox: Alice Murdoch, Cathy Hinds, Stacey McGaughy, Caroline McCammon, Jo Willis, Victorial Coulter, Brooke Burnside, Molly Kerr and Chelsea Goodwin
33rd in Time trial
Final F – 3rd

Women’s Intermediate 4+
Cox – Catherine Campbell, Dineka Maguire, Roisin Maguire, Emma McKee and Ruth Taylor
13th in Time trial
Final C – 1st

Women’s Intermediate 4+
Cox – Carol Moorehead, Rachel Brown, Rachael Abbott, Ellie Holmes and Alicia Green
Time Trial – 28th
Final E – 2nd

In order to capture the spirit of the weekend the students got together for a group photo.
Limerick Regatta – Results
27 Apr 2020

On Saturday the Intermediate and Senior Men went to Limerick to compete at Limerick Regatta over 1500m.

With limited facilities and land to rig the boats the rowers ended up rigging their boats in the mud and wet and hiding in the van in between races.

Below is a picture of Mark and Ben rigging their double scull in the vegetable plot.

The day began with the Intermediate 1x with Liam Moran competing in his first sculling race and Ben Evans competing in the time trial. Unfortunately neither of the scullers made it into the final. With the regatta getting off to a slow start the regatta quickly began to run behind time. This resulted in the following race, the club 2 4x, attempting to begin swiftly. This meant that our club 2 4x, which Moran was also racing in, was unable to get to the start on time resulting in no race in that category for Queen’s. This was unfortunate as the odds looked good for Queen’s in that category.

Next up was the Senior 4x in which Queen’s took a close win over a Carlow/Three Castles composite 4x. The Queen’s 4x line up consisted of Christopher Beck, Adam Boreham, Tiernan Oliver, and James McKelvey.

40 minutes after the Senior 4x were the Senior 1x in which each member of the 4x raced again. Tiernan Oliver won his heat bringing him into the final in the afternoon in which he placed 3rd.

Next up were the Intermediate 2x in which two Queen’s crews of Jason Armstrong & Luke McCann and Mark McMullan & Ben Evans raced. Jason & Luke comfortably won their heat bringing them into the final later in the afternoon in which they placed 3rd. Mark and Ben finished 3rd in their heat.

After the long day all that there was left to do was de-rig in the rain, collect the medals and make the tiring journey home…and stop for pizza!
Limerick Regatta 26th of April
25 Apr 2020

Best of luck to the Queen’s intermediate men will be competing at Limerick Regatta over a 1500m course.

Boats entered are shown below

Intermediate Single
Liam Moran
Ben Evans

Senior Single
Christopher Beck
Tiernan Oliver
Adam Boreham
James McKelvey

Club 2 4x
Jason Armstrong, Luke McCann, Liam Moran, Mark McMullan

Senior 4X
Christopher Beck, Adam Boreham, Tiernan Oliver, James McKelvey

Intermediate 2x
Jason Armstrong, Luke McCann
Mark McMullan, Ben Evans

A report will follow to summarize the results, any other news and a few photos to show how it was.
Irish University Championships and Skibbereen Regatta Results
15 Apr 2021

Arriving on Thursday, the day before the regatta began, the weather was encouraging and hopes were high for it to remain so.

However, as it happens, by Friday rowers were met with a typical Inniscarra tailwind leaving the water choppy, but for the most part very rowable.

Crews from both clubs rowed hard and performed well under the new categorizing system which saw higher level crews come down and race in the lower categories. This resulted in not as many wins as Queen’s would have liked but saw many of our rowers perform well against crews more senior than they were.

For more detailed information on the results of the regatta follow this link http://www.rowingireland.ie/regattas/321/ to the Rowing Ireland website.

Results for the MEN at University Championships were as follows

Heats
Intermediate 1x
James McKelvey – 2nd
Ben Evans – 6th

Novice 8+
QUBBC A – 1st
QUBBC B – 3rd

Finals (Some boat classes were straight finals)

Club 8+
QUBBC – 3rd

Club 1 4+
QUBBC – 3rd

Intermediate 1x
James McKelvey – 4th

Novice 8+
QUBBC A – 3rd
QUBBC B – 6th

Senior 4x-
QUBBC – 2nd (Luke McCann filled in at bow seat for James McKelvey)

Novice 4x+
QUBBC – 1st

A picture of the winning Novice 4x+

Results for the WOMEN at University Championships were as follows

As I was unable to update the blog of the women’s crews and who was in them while at the regattas I will include the members of the crews while listing results. The details of the men’s crews are included in the previous post

Heats

N/A

Finals

Intermediate 2x
QUBLBC (Rebecca Mackey, Rebecca Edwards) – 3rd

Novice 8+
QUBLBC A (Lana Mullen, Lois Kelso, Rosanna McBrien, Stephanie McIvor, Alice Foynes, Niamh Cassidy, Molly Kerr, Samantha Fisher. Cox - Carol Moorehead) – 2nd
QUBLBC B (Jennifer Whittaker, Victoria Coulter, Joanne Willis, Caroline McCammon, Booke Burnside, Hannah Smith, Chelsea Goodwin, Stacey McGaughey. Cox – Alice Murdoch) – 4th

Intermediate 1x
QUBLBC (Rebecca Edwards) – 2nd

Novice 4x+
QUBLBC (Jennifer Whittaker, Victoria Coulter, Rosanna McBrien, Booke Burnside. Cox – Alice Murdoch) – 3rd

Club 1 4+
QUBLBC B (Alicia Green, Rachael Abbott, Mary-Beth Toner, Ellie Holmes. Cox – Catherine Campbell) – 4th
QUBLBC C (Lois Kelso, Lana Mullen, Stephanie McIvor, Molly Kerr. Cox – Carol Moorehead) – 6th

Club 1 8+ (This was the ladies 1st VIII first race in their new boat. From what I gathered it was a beautiful boat to race in)
QUBLBC (Emma McKee, Rachel Brown, Rebecca Mackey, Rebecca Edwards, Ruth Taylor, Dineka Maguire, Jane Cunningham, Niamh Menary) – 2nd

Queen’s only raced on day 1 of Skibbereen Regatta. Times have also been provided with the results sourced on the Rowing Ireland website for this event. http://www.rowingireland.ie/regattas/303/

Results for the MEN at Skibbereen Regatta

Heats

Division 2 8+ (includes J16, Club 2 and Novice. All categories raced together but the winners of each category are awarded rather than just 1st place in the final)
Heat A
QUBBC B (Novice) – 3rd with a time of 6:59.24. Winning time 6:15.84
Heat B
QUBBC A (Novice) - 2nd with a time of 6:23.22. Winning time 6:09.94

Division 1 1x (Includes J18, club 1, Intermediate, Senior and Lightweight. Same system as Division 2)
Heat E
Tiernan Oliver (club 1) – 1st with a time of 7:29.21
Adam Boreham (club 1) – 2nd with a time of 7:46.59
Jason Armstrong (club 1) – 4th with a time of 7:57.38
Heat J
Christopher Beck (Lightweight) -1st with a time of 7:19.38
Luke McCann (Lightweight) – 4th with a time of 7:55.59
Ben Evans (Lightweight) – 6th with a time of 8:38.44

Division 2 2x
Heat F
QUBBC C (Club 2) – 5th with a time of 9:11.00 (Oar came out of gate). Winning time 7:18.70
Heat G
QUBBC A (Club 2) – 1st with a time of 7:20.00
QUBBC B (Club 2) – 3rd with a time of 7:28.20
QUBBC D (Club 2) – 6th with a time of 8:35.70

Division 1 4x-
Heat A
QUBBC (Club 1) – 6th with a time of 6:52. Winning time 6:27.

Finals

Divison 2 8+
Final C
QUBBC B (Novice) – 1st with a time of 6:55.50.
Final A
QUBBC A (Novice) – 6th with a time of 6:21.00. Winning time 6:08.6

Division 1X
Final B
Tiernan Oliver (Club 1) – 5th with a time of 7:31.10. Winning time of 7:20.10.
Final A
Christopher Beck (Lightweight) – 5th with a time of 7:21.1. Winning time of 7:12.00.

Overall Tiernan was the fastest club 1 sculler in the finals and Chris was the fastest Lightweight in the finals.

Division 2x
Final B
QUBBC B (Club 2) – 1st with a time of 7:25.15.
Final A
QUBBC A (Club 2) – 2nd with a time of 7:20.90. Winning time 7:17.30
QUBBC A was the winner of the Club 2 double category of Division 2

Picture of the Division 2 Club 2 2x winners Mark McMullan and Ben Evans

Results for the WOMEN at Skibbereen Regatta

Heats

Division 1 1x
Heat D
Rebecca Edwards (Intermediate) – 3rd with a time of 8:27.00. Winning time 8:06.

Division 2 2x
Heat B
QUBLBC (Novice) – 6th with a time of 9:42.60. Winning time 7:58.15.

Division 1 2-
Heat B
QUBLBC (Intermediate) – 1st with a time of 8:02.43.

Division 2 8+
Heat A
QUBLBC A (Novice) – 1st with a time of 7:27.60.
Heat C
QUBLBC (Club 2) – 5th with a time of 8:11.20. Winning time 7:13.

Division 1 4x-
Heat B
QUBLBC (Intermediate) – 4th with a time of 7:22.50. Winning time 7:02.30.

Division 2 2x
Heat C
QUBLBC (Club 2) – 3rd with a time of 8:27.50. Winning time 8:02.90

Division 1 4+
Heat B
QUBLBC (Club 1) – 4th with a time of 8:04.60. Winning time 8:04.60

Finals

Division 1 1x
Final B
Rebecca Edwards (Intermediate) – 2nd with a time of 8:23.45. Winning time 8:15.73.

Division 2 4x+
Final C
QUBLBC (Novice) – 5th with a time of 9:19.2. Winning time 8:29.10.

Division 1 2-
Final A
QUBLBC (Intermediate) – 3rd with a time of 8:03.8. Winning time 7:55.00
The Pair of Dineka Maguire and Ruth Taylor won their division.

Division 2 8+
Final C
QUBLBC B (Club 2) – 3rd with a time of 8:23.60. Winning time 8:12.60
Final A
QUBLBC (Novice 8) – 4th with a time of 7:42.50. Winning time 7:15.00
The novice crew won their division. Pictured below is the crew.

Division 2 2x
Heat B
QUBLBC (Club 2) – 2nd with no time recorded in results. 4.68 seconds behind leader.

Division 1 4+
Heat B
QUBLBC (Club 1) – 3rd with a time of 8:03.00. Winning time 7:48.

It was a fun weekend for all, both clubs have been able to see where they are in terms of the competition. Queen’s do not usually peak for University Championships, we hope to come back in the summer and take away a very different set of results! Needless to say everyone enjoyed their sleep after the 5 hour car journey back to Belfast on Saturday evening.
Irish University Championships & Skibbereen Regatta
9 Apr 2021

This weekend Queen’s Rowing embark on a journey down to Cork and the National Rowing Centre to take part in the first regatta of the season.

Both men and women have made huge entries over the 2 days of racing.
An update will follow regarding the ladies when they get me the full information for their crews.

This is only one of 2 fully packed trailers

MEN

University Championships – Friday

Senior 4x- Christopher Beck, Tiernan Oliver, Adam Boreham, James McKelvey
Inter 8+ Christopher Beck, Luke McCann, Tiernan Oliver, Adam Boreham, Jason Armstrong, Liam Moran, Mark McMullan, Ben Evans, Carol Moorehead (cox)
Inter 1x Ben Evans, James McKelvey
Club 1 8x (Same as Inter 8)
Club 1 4+ Jason Armstrong, Luke McCann, Mark McMullan, Liam Moran, Carol Moorehead (cox)
Novice 8+ Joel Kelly, Lloyd White, Philip Doyle, John Vincent, Oliver Graham, Brian Murray, Gareth Herron, Philip Patton, Peter Ramsey (cox)
+
Jordan Allen, Jonaah Boyd, Ryan McCormack, Ross Williamson, Maciej Lisowski, Chris Rice, Ben Smith, James Duffin, Ruairi Leonard (cox)
Novice 4x+ Joel Kelly, Lloyd White, Philip Doyle, Philip Patton, Peter Ramsey (cox)

Skibereen – Saturday

Lightweight 1x Luke McCann, Ben Evans, Christopher Beck
Club 1 1x Jason Armstrong, Adam Boreham, Tiernan Oliver, Liam Moran
Inter 4x- (same as senior 4x-)
Club 1 4x- (Same as Uni Champs)
Club 2 2x Mark McMullan + Ben Evans, Lloyd White + Gareth Herron, Philip Doyle + John Vincent, Joel Kelly + Philip Patton

WOMAN

Club 1 8+
Novice 8+
Club 1 4x-
Club 2 2x
Club 1 1x
Club 1 4+
Novice 4+

Crew lists and which days these boats are entered in to follow when information reaches me.
Queen’s Ladies compete at WEHoRR and Caversham with great results. Men’s Club Training Camp at Loch Rhynn
19 Mar 2021

Over the weekend the Queen’s Ladies sent a contingent of 2 inter eights and a novice eight over to race in the London Head of the River Race. They were delighted to be met by beautiful weather throughout their time at London.

All crews performed exceedingly well performing in the Elite Category due to being counted as overseas crews.

The Ladies’ 1st VIII pictured above at Caversham of (from left to right) Rebecca Mackey (7), Rebecca Edwards(5), Rebecca McGookin(bow), Emma McKee(stroke),Catherine Campbell(cox), Jill Thornton(2), Ruth Taylor(4), Dineka Maguire(3) and Jane Cunningham(6). The Ladies smashed through into the top 50 crews placing 45th with a time of 19:55.93.

The Ladies’ 1st VIII was also invited to row at a under 23 senior level at the Caversham race course. They posted a blistering time of 7:05 winning the C Final, beating the Cambridge LW8+, University of London 8+ and Durham 8+. The Ladies knocked 10 seconds of their heats time in which Cambridge beat them.

The Ladies club wishes to thank Peter Shepard for inviting them to Caversham to take part in the event.

The Ladies’ 2nd VIII pictured above in London of
(Back row left to right) Alice McPherson(bow), Laura-Jane Watson(2), Rachel Brown(5), Mary-Beth Toner(3)
(Front Row left to right)Hannah Todd(6), Alicia Green(7), Carol Moorehead (cox), Ellie Holmes (stroke), Rachel Abbott(4).

The Ladies rowed hard to claim joint 114th with York City A crew with a time of 20:48.87

The Ladies’ 3rd VIII pictured above in London of (from left to right) Molly Kerr (bow), Samantha Fisher (2), Alice Foynes (3), Niamh Cassedy(4), Carrie Kelly(5), Stephanie Mclvor(6), Lana Mullen(7), Lois Kelso(stroke) and Alice Murdoch(cox).

The Ladies’ rowed very competitively for only having 6 months of rowing, and even less rowing as a crew. They placed 169th with a time of 21:30.44.

Putting these great results into perspective by aligning the crews in their competitive categories.
The 1st VIII would have came 7th out of 29 Inter 2 crews
The 2nd VIII would have came 36th out of 112 Inter 3 crews
The 3rd VIII would have came 18th out of 41 Novice crews

For more results - http://www.wehorr.org/results.htm

While the Ladies’ Club were competing in London the Men’s Club sent a contingent of Trialists and a few enthusiastic scullers to Loch Rynn to do some straight line pieces.

Those that took part in the training camp were Mark Magill, Tiernan Oliver, Christopher Beck, Gareth McKillen, James McKelvey, and Adam Borum.

The Men battled the conditions to test their abilities rowing a straight 2000m course. Something that we do not get the luxury of on the River Lagan. Needless to say Mick Desmond gave the men a productive and intense weekend away.
Queens vs Trinity in place of Lagan Head
27 Feb 2021

Unfortunately due to weather conditions the annual Lagan Head of the River was cancelled. In order to salvage some racing Trinity agreed to come up to Belfast and have it out with Queen’s crews.

The crews raced 2x 2000m and combined the times to get an overall score.Conditions were rough with crews from both sides rowing well with DUBC Inter 8 winning fastest time overall followed closely by QUBBC Senior 4X. The novice men and ladies both rowed strong winning their races! QUBLBC Inter 8 won their race against the DULBC Inter 8 but the DULBC Senior 8 setting the fastest time for the ladies.
Queen’s Rowing at the Euro Universities Rowing Champs 2013
4 Sep 2020

Queen’s Students compete at European University Rowing Championships in Poland

Queen’s Rowing Club members and Sports Bursary recipients, Tiernan Oliver (LLB Law with French), Peter Gillanders (Dentistry), Kevin Coughlan (MSc Durability of Structures) and Charles Cunningham (MSc Psychology of Performance Enhancement in Sport and Health) are setting off to compete at the 8th European Universities Rowing Championship, which will be organised in Poznan, Poland between September 5 – 8, 2013. This will cap off a busy year for Queen’s Rowing following the success at the British University Championships and Irish Nationals picking up 5 medals along the way. This strong coxless 4 group will be hoping to compete well against 14 Universities from across Europe. 11 crews from the UK will be represented at the Championships with Queen’s University Belfast the only crew from Ireland taking to the water.

Putting together a final water session before setting off to Poland to compete in the European University Rowing Championships are (front to back) Tiernan Oliver, Peter Gillanders, Kevin Coughlan and Charles Cunningham on the River Lagan, Belfast. Photo/Paul McErlane

List of entries below for information:-

Austria (AUT)

FH Wiener Neustadt

University of Salzburg

University of Vienna

Belgium (BEL)

HEC-ULg Management School Liége

Croatia (CRO)

University of Zagreb

Estonia (EST)

University of Tartu

France (FRA)

Technical University Compiégne

Joseph Fourier University Grenoble

University of Nantes

University of Lorraine

INSA Toulouse

Germany (GER)

RWTH Aachen

Technical University Berlin

University of Berlin

University of Bremen

Technical University Darmstadt

Technical University Dresden

University of Frankfurt

University of Hamburg

University of Hannover

University of Heidelberg

University of Magdeburg

University of Mainz

University of Osnabrück

National Academy of Art in Stuttgart

University of Würzburg

Ireland (IRE)

Queen’s University Belfast

Lithuania (LTU)

University of Klaipeda

The Netherlands (NED)

Hogeschool of Amsterdam

University of Amsterdam

University of Vrije

Norway (NOR)

Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim

Poland (POL)

Kazimierz Wielki University Bydgoszcz

University of Economy Bydgoszcz

Higher Vocational State School Kalisz

Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań

University of Life Sciences Poznań

University of Technology Poznań

Warsaw University of Life Sciences

University School of Physical Education Wrocław

University of Technology Wrocław

Portugal (POR)

Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra

University of Coimbra

Russian Federation (RUS)

Kazan National Research Technological University

Kuban State University of Physical Education, Sport and Tourism

Magnitogorsk State University

Saratov State Academy of Law

Saratov State Agrarian University

Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health in

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg State University

Switzerland (SUI)

University of Lausanne

University of St. Gallen

University of Zurich

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (GBR)

Robert Gordon University Aberdeen

Queen’s University in Belfast

University of Cardiff

University of Durham

University of Edinburgh

University of Exeter

Imperial College London

University of Manchester

University of Newcastle

University of Nottingham

University of Tesside

(Post composed by Sports Development Manager at Queen’s Sport, Carl Oakes)
Irish Rowing Championships: Day Three
2 Aug 2020

As is normality on the Third and final Day of the Irish Rowing Championships, Sunday’s racing was met with high levels of anticipation and expectation from rowers throughout Club and University level, for some of the most competitive racing events of the weekend. Queen’s featured in the key races of the day: the Men’s Novice Coxed Four, the Men’s Intermediate Double Sculls, the Women’s Novice Eight and the Men’s Senior Eight.

The first race of the day was the Men’s Novice Coxed Four, which consisted of the Stern Four of the Men’s Novice Eight which raced on Friday. The Eight had always been the priority for the Novice Men and it’s always difficult to re-motivate a crew for further racing after their main objective had not been completed, but the Novice Men did a solid job of breaking themselves back into it, promisingly taking 2nd place in their Heat, with a time of 9:48.47, narrowly being beaten by UCD’s 9:48.03.

There was now much speculation for their Noon Final. In the final stages of the Men’s Novice Fours Final, UCD looked set to win, with Queen’s coming in third. Yet, in the last 500m, the Queen’s Men launched themselves at their Dublin rivals, making a push and coming back at them with serious distances being gained with every stroke. The Queen’s Men were victorious in a classic finish, pipping UCD to the line to come 1st with a final time of 7:49.87, to UCD’s 7.50.79, while Cork rivals UCC finished 3rd with a time of 7:55.25. A fantastic result in a very competitive category, as all four rowers and their cox, Peter Ramsey, only picked up the sport for the first time last September. The result was also a credit to the Coaching Efforts of Paddy Doherty, Damian Hannon and Steven Lockwood, who put in the time and effort with the Novice Men throughout the season. Congratulations to both the Coaches and the Competitors for their Victory!

The Stroke-Man for the Coxed Four Michael Molloy, who also stroked the Novice Eight on Friday, had this to say about their performance in the Coxed Four:

The race was tough and competition good. UCC gave us a good fight and our rowing stayed clean in the last 250 which I think gave us the win. Haven’t a clue what Peter said in the wind up, I just remember him making calls saying that we were taking seats.

Next it was the Ladies’ Club time to shine, as the highly regarded QUBLBC Novice Eight took to the water of Inniscarra Lake to race in the Heat for the Women’s Novice Eight event. The Queen’s Ladies won their Heat (times are unfortunately unavailable) to enter the Final with much anticipation behind them as well as on the Novice Bann Eight. The Final came down to the Queen’s Ladies battling it out with the Coleraine Ladies for the top position. It was a true dogfight in the middle of the Race with not much between the two leading crews, but the Queen’s Ladies consistently maintained a lead over the Coleraine Rowers, who eventually lost their close proximity to the Queen’s Ladies in the final stretch of the race. The QUBLBC Novice Eight stormed ahead to a half length victory over their Coleraine rivals. A brilliant victory for the Ladies and the Ladies Club, who had achieved what they had set out as their main goal. As with the Novice Men, this Victory is a credit to not only the Rowers but also to the Coaches of the Novice Ladies throughout the season: Julie Lynch, Ellen Thompson, Andy Wells, Stuart Kelly and Emma Kerrigan. Congratulations QUBLBC!

Stroke-Woman for the Eight, Roisin Maguire had this to say:

Looking back at the final it’s all a bit of a blur. We went in having won our heat relatively comfortably and the conditions were in our favour but we also knew that Bann were strong contenders. Our boat led from the start, Bann made it a very hard race but every girl in the Queen’s boat gave it their all, we knew we’d done the training and we deserved the championship!

In the penultimate race of the Championships for the Men’s Club, Queen’s Scullers Mark McMullan and Luke McCann raced in the Men’s Intermediate Double Sculls competition, another hotly contested event of the weekend, with only the top two crews of each of the three heats being able to race in the Final. Queen’s Rower James Cook was originally set to race with Mark in the Double but due to severe back injuries which proved afflicting during the training in the run up to the Championships, he was unfortunately unable to race and Luke McCann stepped in to compete in his place. Their Heat underwent a ‘Restart’ due to unforeseen complications at the Start-Line. The scullers gave it everything they had when the Race restarted, in what proved to be a very tough heat, where they finished in 4th place. Local crew Belfast Boat Club finished in 1st in their heat, who went on to finish 3rd in the Final with a time of 7:36.39, while the ‘B’ double from Skibbereen finished 1st in the Final with a time of 7:30.60. (Times are unfortunately unavailable for Mark and Luke’s heat) A tough race for the Scullers, both of whom are finishing their first year of Rowing for Queen’s having competed previously at Junior Level for Methody (Luke) and Coleraine Inst (Mark). Both Rowers rowed hard together under harder circumstances including Luke being more fatigued due to his previous races in the Single Scull over the weekend and both Scullers not having the same level of training experience as other crews due to the complications of James Cook’s injury.

Mark McMullan commented on their performance together:

First of all I’d like to give a big thank you to Luke for stepping in at the last minute despite having already raced on Friday and Saturday. Luke is a very competent sculler and his rowing style was very easy to adjust to. Being a lightweight crew racing into a strong headwind against some very strong competition, we were already at a disadvantage and the restart really took it out of us. However, I don’t think either of us wanted to give up and we kept pushing all the way to line.

The Most anticipated race was of course the Men’s Senior Eights Race. This year’s Rowing Season saw a number of cancellations of key Head Races and Regattas, specifically London HORR and Irish University Championships which are typically good events to gage the calibre of the top crews for the season. Seeing that the last race which featured the top Senior Crews of Irish Rowing racing against one-another was back in March at Erne Head of the River , there was much speculation to be made.

The NUI Galway- Grainne Mhaol composite took an early lead in the race and remained there as the QUBBC Senior Men battled it out with UCD to the line, sitting in third place coming out of the 1000m mark and into the final stretch of the race. During what initially looked like a second place finishing position for UCD, Queen’s emptied the tank to claw back a lead in a final push to finish ahead of the Liffey rowers in 2nd place, with a time of 6:17.87 to UCD’s 6:17.94. NUI Galway-Grainne Mhaol came 1st, with a time of 6:17.94.

This was a very disappointing result for the Queen’s Men, after a hard season which the Senior Men made sure to persevere through, spurred on by the objective of winning ‘The Big Pot.’

It is still a great achievement to finish in Second Place after some even expecting Queen’s to not be ‘competitive enough.’

The Senior Eight Strokeman, Chris Beck, who has just finished his first year of University at Queen’s and his first year of rowing for Queen’s, having rowed at Junior level for RBAI previously, had this to say:

Days leading up to senior 8 the preparation was very good and everyone was focused and determined. The race itself obviously had a disappointing outcome for us, however absolutely everyone from bow to cox did what was asked. Our race plan was executed perfectly and we had a fantastic race especially the last 1000m which was quicker than most of the field. Unfortunately our first 500 left us short as NUIG simply had a more explosive start. Carol coxed fantastically and she needs to hold her head up, as well as all the other lads who put so much in on race day and everything leading up to it.

Here is a complete re-cap of all of the Queen’s Results of the Weekend:

Friday:

Women’s Novice Coxed Four: Heat: 3rd, 8:09 Final: 3rd, 8:24

Men’s Lightweight Single Scull (McCann): Heat: 3rd, 9:14 Final: 5th, 9:10

Men’s Novice Eight: Final: 4th, 7:06

Men’s Senior Coxless Four: Final: 6th, 7:08

Saturday:

Men’s Senior Pair: Heat: 3rd Final: 5th, 7:59

Women’s Novice Single Scull (Edwards): Heat: 1st, 11:30 Final: 3rd, 11:10

Men’s Intermediate Single Scull (McCann): Heat: 2nd (Time unavailable) Semi-Final: 4th, 9:14

Sunday:

Men’s Novice Coxed Four: Heat: 2nd, 9:48.47 Final: 1st, 7:49.87

Women’s Novice Eight: Heat: 1st, (Time Unavailable) Final: 1st, 7:34.56

Men’s Intermediate Double Scull: Heat: 4th (Time Unavailable)

Men’s Senior Eight: Final: 2nd, 6:17.87

And so we come to the official end of the Rowing Season for Queen’s. Queen’s Rowing would like to thank Lady Victoria Boat Club for all it’s continued support and the support provided for Queen’s Rowing throughout this Rowing Season, as well as to all the followers and supporters of Queen’s Rowing, particularly everyone who has helped prepare weekend porridge servings for the student Athletes of Queen’s Rowing, in particular Pamela Cunningham. Well done also to this year’s Club Committee, who worked well together to steward the club in the right direction throughout the season. Congratulations again to the Women’s Novice Eight and the Men’s Novice Coxed Four! Go on Queen’s!
Irish Rowing Championships 2013: Day Two
2 Aug 2020

Saturday saw an array of smaller boats competing from the Queen’s Lady’s and Queen’s Men’s Boatclubs, featuring Queen’s boats racing in the Women’s Novice Single, the Men’s Intermediate Single Scull and the Men’s Senior Pairs event.

The heats for the Senior Pairs event was one of the earliest races to kicks-start Day Two of the Irish Rowing Championships, which featured one entry from Queen’s consisting of QUB Vice-Captain Matt McKibbin at Stroke and Charles Cunningham at Bow. The pair finished third in their first heat, (times are unavailable for all competitors of their Heat) allowing them to progress to the final where they finished in 5th place with a time of 7:59.23. The top three crews in their finishing order were Galway A in 1st place, 7:29, NUI Galway in 2nd, 7.30 and St. Michaels RC B in 3rd, 7:44. The Queen’s men just missed out on 4th position to Galway B, who finished slightly ahead with 7:59.06.

Matt had this to say about his and Charles’ performance: We fielded a senior pair to warm our legs up for the straight final in the 8 on sun. good solid row in the heat saw us through to the final. unfortunately as the conditions worsened that day we didnt have our best row in the final and finished a disappointing 5th, but didnt worry too much as the focus had been on the 8.

The next race which Queen’s featured in was the Women’s Novice Singles Race, which had first year rower Rebecca Edwards representing the Lady’s club in the Single Scull. Rebecca won her heat, with a time of 11.30, which was a brilliant start to her racing for the weekend and a result which made for a promising final for her in the Women’s Novice Single event. In much tougher conditions, Rebecca raced hard in the final, finishing in third place, squeezing ahead of the Commercial sculler Jennings in the last 500m, who finished at 11.13 while Rebecca finishing with a time of 11.10. 1st place of the race went to Skibbereen sculler Hegarty at 10.42 and 2nd place was Commercial Sculler Foley at 10.52. Rebecca had this to say about her performance:

The massive head wind meant I had to row against the flow. My start wasn’t great because of the conditions. Racing the final, as I came to the 1k believed I could finish top 3. I started to wind up at 300m to go and saw the Sculler Jennings beside me. I saw my opportunity to take 3rd place and took it. Racing at champs was great, raced all weekend and enjoyed it all.

(Rebecca Edwards finishing 3rd in the Final of the Women’s Novice Single Sculls race at the Irish Rowing Championships)

Luke McCann was back in the single on Saturday also, representing the Men’s Club in the Men’s Intermediate Single Sculls Event. The Intermediate Singles Event was a step-up for Luke from the Lightweight singles race, as it was much more hotly contested, with six heats in total and with only the first and second placing scullers from each heat being granted eligibility to progress to the Semi Finals.

Luke raced well in his Heat and finished in second place (times are unavailable for his Heat unfortunately). Luke raced hard in his Semi-Final event, but unfortunately just lost out on coming in 3rd place, which would have permitted him to race in the Final, to the Portadown Sculler McKeown, with Luke finishing with a time of 9:14 and McKeown finishing with 9.09. The Winner of Luke’s Semi Final, the Skibbereen sculler Burns, went on to Win the Intermediate Singles Final, with a time of 9:04, while the Portadown Sculler McKeown finished in 6th place, whose correct time is unavailable.

Luke had this to say about his performance throughout the Men’s Intermediate Single Sculls Event:

It was great to compete in it, my heat went great; got into second which was a qualifying position and sat on the field to save energy. It was a great feeling to be able to sit at a lower rate and maintain a leading position. For the semi I was too tired to compete with my competitors which included the sculler who would go on to win, but it was the perfect end to be able to sprint finish and pip the Carlow sculler to 4th.

A promising set of results from Day Two of the Championships overall. As with the Senior Four on Friday, the Pair was always seen by Matt and Charles as preparation for the Senior Eight on Sunday. The two scullers Rebecca Edwards and Luke McCann performed particularly well and have achieved much already in what is only the end of their first year of Rowing for Queen’s. Onwards to Sunday…
Irish Rowing Championships 2013: Day One
1 Aug 2020

It is difficult to put yourself into the mindset of any athlete before any competition; these individuals are at a psychological extreme, mentally willing and motivating themselves to perform to their physical limits, to give a performance which is the fruition of their training while fighting back nerves.

The Student Athletes of Queen’s Rowing dealt with such a mindset as they made their way from the Queen’s Boathouse in Belfast on Tuesday morning all the way to the start line on Inniscarra Lake at the National Rowing Centre in Cork.

As well as the uncharacteristically high temperatures, blue skies and sunshine that competitors were met with throughout the majority of this year’s Championships, another welcome addition to the competition was the new stakeboat, moved over to the lake having been used at Eton Dorney the previous Summer, for the Olympic Rowing events at London 2012.

(Credit to Queen’s Men’s Club Coach Paddy Doherty for the above photograph)

The Queen’s Lady’s Novice Coxed four was the first Queen’s crew to compete for the Club over the Weekend. They raced their heat to a time of 8:09, placing 3rd which allowed them entry to the final against stiff competition from NUI Galway and Commercial Boat Club. Against much tougher conditions in the form of a strong headwind, the Ladies finished in 3rd place with a time of 8.24, while NUI Galway finished 2nd and Commercial in 1st place.

The Cox for the Novice Lady’s Coxed Four had this to say about the performance of herself and her crew:

There was strong competition in the fours race. I felt the crew definitely took it up a notch in the final and kept their composure to come 3rd overall. The conditions were choppy and I think that the girls coped very well with them, particularly in the final.

Luke McCann raced the Intermediate single on the first day of the National Championships, performing strongly in his heat to finish 3rd with a time of 9.14. The final was a much tighter event, with the winner of Luke’s Heat, Kenny from Grainne Mhaol finishing in 1st with a time of 8.09, Prendergast from Skibbereen, who finished 2nd in Luke’s heat, finished 3rd in the Final with a time of 8.30, while Luke finished in 5th Place, with a time of 9.10.

The rower, who is finishing his first year of University and competing for QUBBC as well as rowing for Methody at Junior level, had this to say about his performance in the Lightweight Single Sculls event: I went into it really apprehensive about it being a senior pot event, I thought I’d be completely out-classed. So being able to sit in a qualifying position in my heat was a big boost and being able to place 5th in the final even after my nasty collision with a few buoys was a highlight of my year. Shows how great the work over the year has been that I could jump into the boat for a few weeks and place 5th in a highly competitive senior event.

One of the most anticipated races of the weekend, the Men’s Novice Eight, also took place on the Friday, with the Queen’s Novice Men racing against UCC, UCD, Trinity and NUI Galway in a straight final. Queen’s launched themselves into the race with a rapid start, holding them ahead of close rivals UCC and up with UCD and Trinity, however the Trinity men had proved themselves to be the top competitors of the day, gaining clear water over all crews by the 750m mark. Queen’s held their lead against UCC throughout most of the race, until they were into the finishing stages of the race, when UCC made strong pushes to take their 3rd place position, leaving the Queen’s men in a finishing position of 4th place, with a final time of 7.06. UCC finished with a time of 7.01, UCD finished 2nd at 6.56 and Trinity finished 1st by a clear margin with 6.50.

A disappointing result for the Novice Men, however the race also provided understanding to the first year rowers how high the calibre of Novice Rowing is at this stage of the season as well as an example of how crew cohesion must be maintained consistently throughout the racing season, as there were changes to the crew prior to and after Henley regatta. Overall though, the crew agreed that they felt that they raced well and give it their best.

The Men’s Senior Four race was also a straight final. It was a very close race, with very little gaps between the finishing times for each of the crews entered. The Queen’s Senior Four crew were very much in the thick of it throughout the race, however finished just behind the crews in 6th place, with a time of 7.08. The winning crew was Grainne Mhaol with a time of 6.51. While of course this was moral sapping for the Queen’s Men, the Senior Four at Irish Nationals was never a priority race for for the Senior Men and was always considered more of a ‘leg-opener’ for the Senior Eight race on Sunday.

The first day saw some good performances from both the Men’s and Lady’s clubs, while others were seen as more disappointing. It was unquestionably though, a good way to ‘break in’ the competing Queen’s crews into the high calibre atmosphere of the Irish Nationals Weekend and was good preparation for the races to come in the competition.
Queen’s Rowing: Irish National Champs Info and Club Meal
15 Jul 2020

Irish National Championships 2013 Club Entries

Over this coming weekend, Friday July 19th until Sunday July 21st, the club will be competing in the Irish National Championships at Inniscarra Lake, Co. Cork, the biggest Regatta of the Irish Rowing Calendar.

Crews have been finalized and official entries made.

The Lady’s Club will be competing in the following races:

Women’s Novice Eight

Women’s Novice Coxed Four

Women’s Novice Single Scull

The Men’s Club will be competing in the following races:

Men’s Senior 8

Men’s Senior Coxless Four

Men’s Senior Coxless Pair (Four QUBBC Entries for this race)

Men’s Senior Double Scull

Men’s Intermediate Double Scull

Men’s Intermediate Single Scull

Men’s Lightweight Single Scull

Men’s Novice Eight

Men’s Novice Coxed Four

The timetable for races in which Queen’s will be competing in will be scheduled over the weekend as follows:

Friday:
Men’s Novice 8+ (Straight Final at 15:30)
Women’s Novice 4+ (Heats commencing at 09:45, Final at 12:30)
Men’s Senior 4- (Heats commencing at 14:00, Final at 16:10)
Men’s Lightweight 1x (Heats commencing at 14:20, Final at 16:30)
Men’s Senior 2x (Straight Final at 12:10)

Saturday:
Men’s Senior 2- (Heats commencing at 09:15, Final at 11:20)
Women’s Novice 1x (Heats commencing at 14:15, Final at 16:58)
Men’s Intermediate 1x (Heats commencing at 13:30, Final at 17:30)

Sunday:
Men’s Novice 4+ (Heats commencing at 10:00, Final at 12:00)
Men’s Senior 8+ (Straight Final at 16:00)
Men’s Intermediate 2x (Heats commencing at 13:55, Final at 15:50)
Women’s Novice 8+ (Straight Final at 15:00)

We at Queen’s Rowing hope to see you, our friends, fans and followers at this year’s Irish National Championships at the National Rowing Centre, situated at Inniscarra Lake in County Cork, to lend support and wish the club well!

Rowing Updates and commentary summaries of each day will be provided on a daily basis and updates on certain races will be put online as soon as possible.

Go go Queen’s!

End of Season Club Meal

This year Queen’s will be holding their annual End of Season Meal at a different location to previous years; Queen’s Rowing will be celebrating the end of the season with a Club Barbecue at Lee Valley Golf and Country Club on Sunday, July 21st at 7pm, as well as holding the passing over of positions to the new club captains for next season. The cost of the meal is €15 per person if paid in advance and €20 if paid on the evening. The contact details of Lee Valley Golf and Country Club is as follows:

Clashnure,
Ovens,
Co.Cork,
Ireland

+353 (0) 21 733 1721

reservations@leevalleygcc.ie

Queen's Rowing

BUCS Regatta 2014 Roundup
7 May 2020

Queen’s Rowing had a very successful weekend at BUCS Regatta 2014 taking home medals in 7 different categories.

Conditions were probably the best that we will see for the next number of years with flat calm conditions on Day 1, very slight headwind on Day 2 and a moderate crosswind on Day 3. Throughout the competition there was sunshine all through the day.

Below will be a summary of each clubs efforts over the weekend.

MEN

Men’s Beginners VIII+ QUB A
Cox- Peter Ramsey, Joel Kelly, Lloyd White, Phil Patton, Phil Doyle, Oliver Graham, John Vincent, Jonny Erskine and Gareth Herron
2nd in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 1st
Final A – 1st Gold Medal

Men’s Beginners VIII+ QUB B
Cox – Ruairi Leonard, Jordan Allen, Ross Williamson, Ryan McCormick, Chris Rice, Adam Gallagher, Ben Smith, Josh Sets and Jonaah Gordon-Boyd
18th in Time Trial
Final C – 5th

Men’s Beginners IV+ QUB A
Cox – Peter Ramsey, Joel Kelly, Phil Doyle, Oliver Graham and Lloyd White
2nd in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 1st
Final A – 1st Gold Medal

Men’s Beginners IV+ QUB B
Cox- Ruairi Leonard, Jordy Allen, Ross Williamson, Ryan McCormick and Jonaah Gordon-Boyd
17th in Time Trial
Final C – 3rd

Men’s Intermediate Lightweight 1x
Time Trial
Christopher Beck – 1st
James McKelvey – 3rd
Jason Armstrong – 18th
Luke McCann – 6th
Liam Moran – 22nd
Ben Evans – 21st
Mark McMullan – 12th
Semi Final A
James McKelvey - 1st
Luke McCann – 3rd
Semi Final B
Chris Beck – 1st
Mark McMullan – 6th
Final A
Chris Beck – 1st Gold Medal
James McKelvey – 4th
Luke McCann – 6th
Final B
Mark McMullan – 6th
Final C
Jason Armstrong – 1st
Final D
Liam Moran – 1st
Ben Evans – 4th

Men’s Intermediate 1x
Tiernan Oliver
2nd in Time Trial
Semi Final – 1st
Final A – 4th

Men’s Championship Lightweight 2x QUB A
Chris Beck and James McKelvey
3rd in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 1st
Final A – 3rd

Men’s Championship Lightweight 2x QUB B
Jason Armstrong and Luke McCann
11th in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 6th

Men’s Intermediate 2x
Tiernan Oliver and Gareth McKillen
1st in Time Trial
Semi Final B – 1st
Final A – 2nd

Men’s Championship Lightweight 4x
Jason Armstrong, Luke McCann, Liam Moran and Mark McMullan
5th in Time Trial
Final A – 5th

Men’s Intermediate 4x
Chris Beck, Adam Boreham, Tiernan Oliver, Gareth McKillen
1st in Time Trial
Semi final A – 1st
Final A – 1st

WOMEN

Women’s Intermediate 2- QUB A
Dineka Maguire and Ruth Taylor
7th in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 3rd
Final A – 6th

Women’s Intermediate 2- QUB A
Rachel Brown and Jane Cunningham
17th in Time Trial
Final C – 5th

Women’s Intermediate 4x-
Ellie Holmes, Roisin Maguire, Emma McKee and Alicia Green
10th in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 5th
Final B – 3rd

Women’s Beginner 1x
Jennifer Whittaker
12th in Time trial
Semi Final B – 6^thB final – 5^th

Women’ Intermediate 8+
Cox – Catherine Campbell, Niamh Menary, Jane Cuuningham, Rachel Brown, Emma McKee, Dineka Maguire, Ruth Taylor, Rebecca Edwards, Rebecca Mackey
8th in Time trialSemi Final B – 5^thFinal B – 1^st

Women’s Champioship Lightweight 1x
Mary-Beth Toner
9th in Time Trial
Semi Final A – 5^th

Women’s Beginner 4+ QUB A
Cox – Carol Moorehead, Molly Kerr, Stephanie McIvor, Lana Mullen and Niamh Cassidy
12th Time TrialSemi-Final B – 5^thFinal B– 4^th

Women’s Beginner 4+QUB B
Cox – Alice Murdoch, Carrie Kelly, Brooke Burnside, Rosanna McBrien and Samantha Fisher
22th Time TrialSemi-Final B – 5^thFinal D – 6th

Women’s Intermediate 2x
Rebecca Edwards and Rebecca Mackey
2nd in Time TrialSemi-Final A – 1^stFinal A– 3^rd Bronze Medal

Rebecca Mackey and Edwards with their Bronze Medal

Women’s Championship Lightweight 4x-
Mary-Beth Toner, Alice McPherson, LJ Watson and Jane Cunningham
8th in Time TrialSemi-Final B – 4^th

Women’s Beginner 8+ QUB A
Cox – Carol Moorehead, Samantha Fisher, Alice Foynes, Niamh Cassidy, Rosanna McBrien, Stephanie McIvor, Carrie Kelly, Lois Kelso and Lana Mullen
12th in Time trial
Semi Final B – 2^ndFinal A – 4^th

Women’s Beginner 8+ QUB B
Cox: Alice Murdoch, Cathy Hinds, Stacey McGaughy, Caroline McCammon, Jo Willis, Victorial Coulter, Brooke Burnside, Molly Kerr and Chelsea Goodwin
33rd in Time trial
Final F – 3rd

Women’s Intermediate 4+
Cox – Catherine Campbell, Dineka Maguire, Roisin Maguire, Emma McKee and Ruth Taylor
13th in Time trial
Final C – 1st

Women’s Intermediate 4+
Cox – Carol Moorehead, Rachel Brown, Rachael Abbott, Ellie Holmes and Alicia Green
Time Trial – 28th
Final E – 2nd

In order to capture the spirit of the weekend the students got together for a group photo.
Limerick Regatta – Results
27 Apr 2020

On Saturday the Intermediate and Senior Men went to Limerick to compete at Limerick Regatta over 1500m.

With limited facilities and land to rig the boats the rowers ended up rigging their boats in the mud and wet and hiding in the van in between races.

Below is a picture of Mark and Ben rigging their double scull in the vegetable plot.

The day began with the Intermediate 1x with Liam Moran competing in his first sculling race and Ben Evans competing in the time trial. Unfortunately neither of the scullers made it into the final. With the regatta getting off to a slow start the regatta quickly began to run behind time. This resulted in the following race, the club 2 4x, attempting to begin swiftly. This meant that our club 2 4x, which Moran was also racing in, was unable to get to the start on time resulting in no race in that category for Queen’s. This was unfortunate as the odds looked good for Queen’s in that category.

Next up was the Senior 4x in which Queen’s took a close win over a Carlow/Three Castles composite 4x. The Queen’s 4x line up consisted of Christopher Beck, Adam Boreham, Tiernan Oliver, and James McKelvey.

40 minutes after the Senior 4x were the Senior 1x in which each member of the 4x raced again. Tiernan Oliver won his heat bringing him into the final in the afternoon in which he placed 3rd.

Next up were the Intermediate 2x in which two Queen’s crews of Jason Armstrong & Luke McCann and Mark McMullan & Ben Evans raced. Jason & Luke comfortably won their heat bringing them into the final later in the afternoon in which they placed 3rd. Mark and Ben finished 3rd in their heat.

After the long day all that there was left to do was de-rig in the rain, collect the medals and make the tiring journey home…and stop for pizza!
Limerick Regatta 26th of April
25 Apr 2020

Best of luck to the Queen’s intermediate men will be competing at Limerick Regatta over a 1500m course.

Boats entered are shown below

Intermediate Single
Liam Moran
Ben Evans

Senior Single
Christopher Beck
Tiernan Oliver
Adam Boreham
James McKelvey

Club 2 4x
Jason Armstrong, Luke McCann, Liam Moran, Mark McMullan

Senior 4X
Christopher Beck, Adam Boreham, Tiernan Oliver, James McKelvey

Intermediate 2x
Jason Armstrong, Luke McCann
Mark McMullan, Ben Evans

A report will follow to summarize the results, any other news and a few photos to show how it was.
Irish University Championships and Skibbereen Regatta Results
15 Apr 2021

Arriving on Thursday, the day before the regatta began, the weather was encouraging and hopes were high for it to remain so.

However, as it happens, by Friday rowers were met with a typical Inniscarra tailwind leaving the water choppy, but for the most part very rowable.

Crews from both clubs rowed hard and performed well under the new categorizing system which saw higher level crews come down and race in the lower categories. This resulted in not as many wins as Queen’s would have liked but saw many of our rowers perform well against crews more senior than they were.

For more detailed information on the results of the regatta follow this link http://www.rowingireland.ie/regattas/321/ to the Rowing Ireland website.

Results for the MEN at University Championships were as follows

Heats
Intermediate 1x
James McKelvey – 2nd
Ben Evans – 6th

Novice 8+
QUBBC A – 1st
QUBBC B – 3rd

Finals (Some boat classes were straight finals)

Club 8+
QUBBC – 3rd

Club 1 4+
QUBBC – 3rd

Intermediate 1x
James McKelvey – 4th

Novice 8+
QUBBC A – 3rd
QUBBC B – 6th

Senior 4x-
QUBBC – 2nd (Luke McCann filled in at bow seat for James McKelvey)

Novice 4x+
QUBBC – 1st

A picture of the winning Novice 4x+

Results for the WOMEN at University Championships were as follows

As I was unable to update the blog of the women’s crews and who was in them while at the regattas I will include the members of the crews while listing results. The details of the men’s crews are included in the previous post

Heats

N/A

Finals

Intermediate 2x
QUBLBC (Rebecca Mackey, Rebecca Edwards) – 3rd

Novice 8+
QUBLBC A (Lana Mullen, Lois Kelso, Rosanna McBrien, Stephanie McIvor, Alice Foynes, Niamh Cassidy, Molly Kerr, Samantha Fisher. Cox - Carol Moorehead) – 2nd
QUBLBC B (Jennifer Whittaker, Victoria Coulter, Joanne Willis, Caroline McCammon, Booke Burnside, Hannah Smith, Chelsea Goodwin, Stacey McGaughey. Cox – Alice Murdoch) – 4th

Intermediate 1x
QUBLBC (Rebecca Edwards) – 2nd

Novice 4x+
QUBLBC (Jennifer Whittaker, Victoria Coulter, Rosanna McBrien, Booke Burnside. Cox – Alice Murdoch) – 3rd

Club 1 4+
QUBLBC B (Alicia Green, Rachael Abbott, Mary-Beth Toner, Ellie Holmes. Cox – Catherine Campbell) – 4th
QUBLBC C (Lois Kelso, Lana Mullen, Stephanie McIvor, Molly Kerr. Cox – Carol Moorehead) – 6th

Club 1 8+ (This was the ladies 1st VIII first race in their new boat. From what I gathered it was a beautiful boat to race in)
QUBLBC (Emma McKee, Rachel Brown, Rebecca Mackey, Rebecca Edwards, Ruth Taylor, Dineka Maguire, Jane Cunningham, Niamh Menary) – 2nd

Queen’s only raced on day 1 of Skibbereen Regatta. Times have also been provided with the results sourced on the Rowing Ireland website for this event. http://www.rowingireland.ie/regattas/303/

Results for the MEN at Skibbereen Regatta

Heats

Division 2 8+ (includes J16, Club 2 and Novice. All categories raced together but the winners of each category are awarded rather than just 1st place in the final)
Heat A
QUBBC B (Novice) – 3rd with a time of 6:59.24. Winning time 6:15.84
Heat B
QUBBC A (Novice) - 2nd with a time of 6:23.22. Winning time 6:09.94

Division 1 1x (Includes J18, club 1, Intermediate, Senior and Lightweight. Same system as Division 2)
Heat E
Tiernan Oliver (club 1) – 1st with a time of 7:29.21
Adam Boreham (club 1) – 2nd with a time of 7:46.59
Jason Armstrong (club 1) – 4th with a time of 7:57.38
Heat J
Christopher Beck (Lightweight) -1st with a time of 7:19.38
Luke McCann (Lightweight) – 4th with a time of 7:55.59
Ben Evans (Lightweight) – 6th with a time of 8:38.44

Division 2 2x
Heat F
QUBBC C (Club 2) – 5th with a time of 9:11.00 (Oar came out of gate). Winning time 7:18.70
Heat G
QUBBC A (Club 2) – 1st with a time of 7:20.00
QUBBC B (Club 2) – 3rd with a time of 7:28.20
QUBBC D (Club 2) – 6th with a time of 8:35.70

Division 1 4x-
Heat A
QUBBC (Club 1) – 6th with a time of 6:52. Winning time 6:27.

Finals

Divison 2 8+
Final C
QUBBC B (Novice) – 1st with a time of 6:55.50.
Final A
QUBBC A (Novice) – 6th with a time of 6:21.00. Winning time 6:08.6

Division 1X
Final B
Tiernan Oliver (Club 1) – 5th with a time of 7:31.10. Winning time of 7:20.10.
Final A
Christopher Beck (Lightweight) – 5th with a time of 7:21.1. Winning time of 7:12.00.

Overall Tiernan was the fastest club 1 sculler in the finals and Chris was the fastest Lightweight in the finals.

Division 2x
Final B
QUBBC B (Club 2) – 1st with a time of 7:25.15.
Final A
QUBBC A (Club 2) – 2nd with a time of 7:20.90. Winning time 7:17.30
QUBBC A was the winner of the Club 2 double category of Division 2

Picture of the Division 2 Club 2 2x winners Mark McMullan and Ben Evans

Results for the WOMEN at Skibbereen Regatta

Heats

Division 1 1x
Heat D
Rebecca Edwards (Intermediate) – 3rd with a time of 8:27.00. Winning time 8:06.

Division 2 2x
Heat B
QUBLBC (Novice) – 6th with a time of 9:42.60. Winning time 7:58.15.

Division 1 2-
Heat B
QUBLBC (Intermediate) – 1st with a time of 8:02.43.

Division 2 8+
Heat A
QUBLBC A (Novice) – 1st with a time of 7:27.60.
Heat C
QUBLBC (Club 2) – 5th with a time of 8:11.20. Winning time 7:13.

Division 1 4x-
Heat B
QUBLBC (Intermediate) – 4th with a time of 7:22.50. Winning time 7:02.30.

Division 2 2x
Heat C
QUBLBC (Club 2) – 3rd with a time of 8:27.50. Winning time 8:02.90

Division 1 4+
Heat B
QUBLBC (Club 1) – 4th with a time of 8:04.60. Winning time 8:04.60

Finals

Division 1 1x
Final B
Rebecca Edwards (Intermediate) – 2nd with a time of 8:23.45. Winning time 8:15.73.

Division 2 4x+
Final C
QUBLBC (Novice) – 5th with a time of 9:19.2. Winning time 8:29.10.

Division 1 2-
Final A
QUBLBC (Intermediate) – 3rd with a time of 8:03.8. Winning time 7:55.00
The Pair of Dineka Maguire and Ruth Taylor won their division.

Division 2 8+
Final C
QUBLBC B (Club 2) – 3rd with a time of 8:23.60. Winning time 8:12.60
Final A
QUBLBC (Novice 8) – 4th with a time of 7:42.50. Winning time 7:15.00
The novice crew won their division. Pictured below is the crew.

Division 2 2x
Heat B
QUBLBC (Club 2) – 2nd with no time recorded in results. 4.68 seconds behind leader.

Division 1 4+
Heat B
QUBLBC (Club 1) – 3rd with a time of 8:03.00. Winning time 7:48.

It was a fun weekend for all, both clubs have been able to see where they are in terms of the competition. Queen’s do not usually peak for University Championships, we hope to come back in the summer and take away a very different set of results! Needless to say everyone enjoyed their sleep after the 5 hour car journey back to Belfast on Saturday evening.
Irish University Championships & Skibbereen Regatta
9 Apr 2021

This weekend Queen’s Rowing embark on a journey down to Cork and the National Rowing Centre to take part in the first regatta of the season.

Both men and women have made huge entries over the 2 days of racing.
An update will follow regarding the ladies when they get me the full information for their crews.

This is only one of 2 fully packed trailers

MEN

University Championships – Friday

Senior 4x- Christopher Beck, Tiernan Oliver, Adam Boreham, James McKelvey
Inter 8+ Christopher Beck, Luke McCann, Tiernan Oliver, Adam Boreham, Jason Armstrong, Liam Moran, Mark McMullan, Ben Evans, Carol Moorehead (cox)
Inter 1x Ben Evans, James McKelvey
Club 1 8x (Same as Inter 8)
Club 1 4+ Jason Armstrong, Luke McCann, Mark McMullan, Liam Moran, Carol Moorehead (cox)
Novice 8+ Joel Kelly, Lloyd White, Philip Doyle, John Vincent, Oliver Graham, Brian Murray, Gareth Herron, Philip Patton, Peter Ramsey (cox)
+
Jordan Allen, Jonaah Boyd, Ryan McCormack, Ross Williamson, Maciej Lisowski, Chris Rice, Ben Smith, James Duffin, Ruairi Leonard (cox)
Novice 4x+ Joel Kelly, Lloyd White, Philip Doyle, Philip Patton, Peter Ramsey (cox)

Skibereen – Saturday

Lightweight 1x Luke McCann, Ben Evans, Christopher Beck
Club 1 1x Jason Armstrong, Adam Boreham, Tiernan Oliver, Liam Moran
Inter 4x- (same as senior 4x-)
Club 1 4x- (Same as Uni Champs)
Club 2 2x Mark McMullan + Ben Evans, Lloyd White + Gareth Herron, Philip Doyle + John Vincent, Joel Kelly + Philip Patton

WOMAN

Club 1 8+
Novice 8+
Club 1 4x-
Club 2 2x
Club 1 1x
Club 1 4+
Novice 4+

Crew lists and which days these boats are entered in to follow when information reaches me.
Queen’s Ladies compete at WEHoRR and Caversham with great results. Men’s Club Training Camp at Loch Rhynn
19 Mar 2021

Over the weekend the Queen’s Ladies sent a contingent of 2 inter eights and a novice eight over to race in the London Head of the River Race. They were delighted to be met by beautiful weather throughout their time at London.

All crews performed exceedingly well performing in the Elite Category due to being counted as overseas crews.

The Ladies’ 1st VIII pictured above at Caversham of (from left to right) Rebecca Mackey (7), Rebecca Edwards(5), Rebecca McGookin(bow), Emma McKee(stroke),Catherine Campbell(cox), Jill Thornton(2), Ruth Taylor(4), Dineka Maguire(3) and Jane Cunningham(6). The Ladies smashed through into the top 50 crews placing 45th with a time of 19:55.93.

The Ladies’ 1st VIII was also invited to row at a under 23 senior level at the Caversham race course. They posted a blistering time of 7:05 winning the C Final, beating the Cambridge LW8+, University of London 8+ and Durham 8+. The Ladies knocked 10 seconds of their heats time in which Cambridge beat them.

The Ladies club wishes to thank Peter Shepard for inviting them to Caversham to take part in the event.

The Ladies’ 2nd VIII pictured above in London of
(Back row left to right) Alice McPherson(bow), Laura-Jane Watson(2), Rachel Brown(5), Mary-Beth Toner(3)
(Front Row left to right)Hannah Todd(6), Alicia Green(7), Carol Moorehead (cox), Ellie Holmes (stroke), Rachel Abbott(4).

The Ladies rowed hard to claim joint 114th with York City A crew with a time of 20:48.87

The Ladies’ 3rd VIII pictured above in London of (from left to right) Molly Kerr (bow), Samantha Fisher (2), Alice Foynes (3), Niamh Cassedy(4), Carrie Kelly(5), Stephanie Mclvor(6), Lana Mullen(7), Lois Kelso(stroke) and Alice Murdoch(cox).

The Ladies’ rowed very competitively for only having 6 months of rowing, and even less rowing as a crew. They placed 169th with a time of 21:30.44.

Putting these great results into perspective by aligning the crews in their competitive categories.
The 1st VIII would have came 7th out of 29 Inter 2 crews
The 2nd VIII would have came 36th out of 112 Inter 3 crews
The 3rd VIII would have came 18th out of 41 Novice crews

For more results - http://www.wehorr.org/results.htm

While the Ladies’ Club were competing in London the Men’s Club sent a contingent of Trialists and a few enthusiastic scullers to Loch Rynn to do some straight line pieces.

Those that took part in the training camp were Mark Magill, Tiernan Oliver, Christopher Beck, Gareth McKillen, James McKelvey, and Adam Borum.

The Men battled the conditions to test their abilities rowing a straight 2000m course. Something that we do not get the luxury of on the River Lagan. Needless to say Mick Desmond gave the men a productive and intense weekend away.
Queens vs Trinity in place of Lagan Head
27 Feb 2021

Unfortunately due to weather conditions the annual Lagan Head of the River was cancelled. In order to salvage some racing Trinity agreed to come up to Belfast and have it out with Queen’s crews.

The crews raced 2x 2000m and combined the times to get an overall score.Conditions were rough with crews from both sides rowing well with DUBC Inter 8 winning fastest time overall followed closely by QUBBC Senior 4X. The novice men and ladies both rowed strong winning their races! QUBLBC Inter 8 won their race against the DULBC Inter 8 but the DULBC Senior 8 setting the fastest time for the ladies.
Queen’s Rowing at the Euro Universities Rowing Champs 2013
4 Sep 2020

Queen’s Students compete at European University Rowing Championships in Poland

Queen’s Rowing Club members and Sports Bursary recipients, Tiernan Oliver (LLB Law with French), Peter Gillanders (Dentistry), Kevin Coughlan (MSc Durability of Structures) and Charles Cunningham (MSc Psychology of Performance Enhancement in Sport and Health) are setting off to compete at the 8th European Universities Rowing Championship, which will be organised in Poznan, Poland between September 5 – 8, 2013. This will cap off a busy year for Queen’s Rowing following the success at the British University Championships and Irish Nationals picking up 5 medals along the way. This strong coxless 4 group will be hoping to compete well against 14 Universities from across Europe. 11 crews from the UK will be represented at the Championships with Queen’s University Belfast the only crew from Ireland taking to the water.

Putting together a final water session before setting off to Poland to compete in the European University Rowing Championships are (front to back) Tiernan Oliver, Peter Gillanders, Kevin Coughlan and Charles Cunningham on the River Lagan, Belfast. Photo/Paul McErlane

List of entries below for information:-

Austria (AUT)

FH Wiener Neustadt

University of Salzburg

University of Vienna

Belgium (BEL)

HEC-ULg Management School Liége

Croatia (CRO)

University of Zagreb

Estonia (EST)

University of Tartu

France (FRA)

Technical University Compiégne

Joseph Fourier University Grenoble

University of Nantes

University of Lorraine

INSA Toulouse

Germany (GER)

RWTH Aachen

Technical University Berlin

University of Berlin

University of Bremen

Technical University Darmstadt

Technical University Dresden

University of Frankfurt

University of Hamburg

University of Hannover

University of Heidelberg

University of Magdeburg

University of Mainz

University of Osnabrück

National Academy of Art in Stuttgart

University of Würzburg

Ireland (IRE)

Queen’s University Belfast

Lithuania (LTU)

University of Klaipeda

The Netherlands (NED)

Hogeschool of Amsterdam

University of Amsterdam

University of Vrije

Norway (NOR)

Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim

Poland (POL)

Kazimierz Wielki University Bydgoszcz

University of Economy Bydgoszcz

Higher Vocational State School Kalisz

Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań

University of Life Sciences Poznań

University of Technology Poznań

Warsaw University of Life Sciences

University School of Physical Education Wrocław

University of Technology Wrocław

Portugal (POR)

Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra

University of Coimbra

Russian Federation (RUS)

Kazan National Research Technological University

Kuban State University of Physical Education, Sport and Tourism

Magnitogorsk State University

Saratov State Academy of Law

Saratov State Agrarian University

Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health in

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg State University

Switzerland (SUI)

University of Lausanne

University of St. Gallen

University of Zurich

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (GBR)

Robert Gordon University Aberdeen

Queen’s University in Belfast

University of Cardiff

University of Durham

University of Edinburgh

University of Exeter

Imperial College London

University of Manchester

University of Newcastle

University of Nottingham

University of Tesside

(Post composed by Sports Development Manager at Queen’s Sport, Carl Oakes)
Irish Rowing Championships: Day Three
2 Aug 2020

As is normality on the Third and final Day of the Irish Rowing Championships, Sunday’s racing was met with high levels of anticipation and expectation from rowers throughout Club and University level, for some of the most competitive racing events of the weekend. Queen’s featured in the key races of the day: the Men’s Novice Coxed Four, the Men’s Intermediate Double Sculls, the Women’s Novice Eight and the Men’s Senior Eight.

The first race of the day was the Men’s Novice Coxed Four, which consisted of the Stern Four of the Men’s Novice Eight which raced on Friday. The Eight had always been the priority for the Novice Men and it’s always difficult to re-motivate a crew for further racing after their main objective had not been completed, but the Novice Men did a solid job of breaking themselves back into it, promisingly taking 2nd place in their Heat, with a time of 9:48.47, narrowly being beaten by UCD’s 9:48.03.

There was now much speculation for their Noon Final. In the final stages of the Men’s Novice Fours Final, UCD looked set to win, with Queen’s coming in third. Yet, in the last 500m, the Queen’s Men launched themselves at their Dublin rivals, making a push and coming back at them with serious distances being gained with every stroke. The Queen’s Men were victorious in a classic finish, pipping UCD to the line to come 1st with a final time of 7:49.87, to UCD’s 7.50.79, while Cork rivals UCC finished 3rd with a time of 7:55.25. A fantastic result in a very competitive category, as all four rowers and their cox, Peter Ramsey, only picked up the sport for the first time last September. The result was also a credit to the Coaching Efforts of Paddy Doherty, Damian Hannon and Steven Lockwood, who put in the time and effort with the Novice Men throughout the season. Congratulations to both the Coaches and the Competitors for their Victory!

The Stroke-Man for the Coxed Four Michael Molloy, who also stroked the Novice Eight on Friday, had this to say about their performance in the Coxed Four:

The race was tough and competition good. UCC gave us a good fight and our rowing stayed clean in the last 250 which I think gave us the win. Haven’t a clue what Peter said in the wind up, I just remember him making calls saying that we were taking seats.

Next it was the Ladies’ Club time to shine, as the highly regarded QUBLBC Novice Eight took to the water of Inniscarra Lake to race in the Heat for the Women’s Novice Eight event. The Queen’s Ladies won their Heat (times are unfortunately unavailable) to enter the Final with much anticipation behind them as well as on the Novice Bann Eight. The Final came down to the Queen’s Ladies battling it out with the Coleraine Ladies for the top position. It was a true dogfight in the middle of the Race with not much between the two leading crews, but the Queen’s Ladies consistently maintained a lead over the Coleraine Rowers, who eventually lost their close proximity to the Queen’s Ladies in the final stretch of the race. The QUBLBC Novice Eight stormed ahead to a half length victory over their Coleraine rivals. A brilliant victory for the Ladies and the Ladies Club, who had achieved what they had set out as their main goal. As with the Novice Men, this Victory is a credit to not only the Rowers but also to the Coaches of the Novice Ladies throughout the season: Julie Lynch, Ellen Thompson, Andy Wells, Stuart Kelly and Emma Kerrigan. Congratulations QUBLBC!

Stroke-Woman for the Eight, Roisin Maguire had this to say:

Looking back at the final it’s all a bit of a blur. We went in having won our heat relatively comfortably and the conditions were in our favour but we also knew that Bann were strong contenders. Our boat led from the start, Bann made it a very hard race but every girl in the Queen’s boat gave it their all, we knew we’d done the training and we deserved the championship!

In the penultimate race of the Championships for the Men’s Club, Queen’s Scullers Mark McMullan and Luke McCann raced in the Men’s Intermediate Double Sculls competition, another hotly contested event of the weekend, with only the top two crews of each of the three heats being able to race in the Final. Queen’s Rower James Cook was originally set to race with Mark in the Double but due to severe back injuries which proved afflicting during the training in the run up to the Championships, he was unfortunately unable to race and Luke McCann stepped in to compete in his place. Their Heat underwent a ‘Restart’ due to unforeseen complications at the Start-Line. The scullers gave it everything they had when the Race restarted, in what proved to be a very tough heat, where they finished in 4th place. Local crew Belfast Boat Club finished in 1st in their heat, who went on to finish 3rd in the Final with a time of 7:36.39, while the ‘B’ double from Skibbereen finished 1st in the Final with a time of 7:30.60. (Times are unfortunately unavailable for Mark and Luke’s heat) A tough race for the Scullers, both of whom are finishing their first year of Rowing for Queen’s having competed previously at Junior Level for Methody (Luke) and Coleraine Inst (Mark). Both Rowers rowed hard together under harder circumstances including Luke being more fatigued due to his previous races in the Single Scull over the weekend and both Scullers not having the same level of training experience as other crews due to the complications of James Cook’s injury.

Mark McMullan commented on their performance together:

First of all I’d like to give a big thank you to Luke for stepping in at the last minute despite having already raced on Friday and Saturday. Luke is a very competent sculler and his rowing style was very easy to adjust to. Being a lightweight crew racing into a strong headwind against some very strong competition, we were already at a disadvantage and the restart really took it out of us. However, I don’t think either of us wanted to give up and we kept pushing all the way to line.

The Most anticipated race was of course the Men’s Senior Eights Race. This year’s Rowing Season saw a number of cancellations of key Head Races and Regattas, specifically London HORR and Irish University Championships which are typically good events to gage the calibre of the top crews for the season. Seeing that the last race which featured the top Senior Crews of Irish Rowing racing against one-another was back in March at Erne Head of the River , there was much speculation to be made.

The NUI Galway- Grainne Mhaol composite took an early lead in the race and remained there as the QUBBC Senior Men battled it out with UCD to the line, sitting in third place coming out of the 1000m mark and into the final stretch of the race. During what initially looked like a second place finishing position for UCD, Queen’s emptied the tank to claw back a lead in a final push to finish ahead of the Liffey rowers in 2nd place, with a time of 6:17.87 to UCD’s 6:17.94. NUI Galway-Grainne Mhaol came 1st, with a time of 6:17.94.

This was a very disappointing result for the Queen’s Men, after a hard season which the Senior Men made sure to persevere through, spurred on by the objective of winning ‘The Big Pot.’

It is still a great achievement to finish in Second Place after some even expecting Queen’s to not be ‘competitive enough.’

The Senior Eight Strokeman, Chris Beck, who has just finished his first year of University at Queen’s and his first year of rowing for Queen’s, having rowed at Junior level for RBAI previously, had this to say:

Days leading up to senior 8 the preparation was very good and everyone was focused and determined. The race itself obviously had a disappointing outcome for us, however absolutely everyone from bow to cox did what was asked. Our race plan was executed perfectly and we had a fantastic race especially the last 1000m which was quicker than most of the field. Unfortunately our first 500 left us short as NUIG simply had a more explosive start. Carol coxed fantastically and she needs to hold her head up, as well as all the other lads who put so much in on race day and everything leading up to it.

Here is a complete re-cap of all of the Queen’s Results of the Weekend:

Friday:

Women’s Novice Coxed Four: Heat: 3rd, 8:09 Final: 3rd, 8:24

Men’s Lightweight Single Scull (McCann): Heat: 3rd, 9:14 Final: 5th, 9:10

Men’s Novice Eight: Final: 4th, 7:06

Men’s Senior Coxless Four: Final: 6th, 7:08

Saturday:

Men’s Senior Pair: Heat: 3rd Final: 5th, 7:59

Women’s Novice Single Scull (Edwards): Heat: 1st, 11:30 Final: 3rd, 11:10

Men’s Intermediate Single Scull (McCann): Heat: 2nd (Time unavailable) Semi-Final: 4th, 9:14

Sunday:

Men’s Novice Coxed Four: Heat: 2nd, 9:48.47 Final: 1st, 7:49.87

Women’s Novice Eight: Heat: 1st, (Time Unavailable) Final: 1st, 7:34.56

Men’s Intermediate Double Scull: Heat: 4th (Time Unavailable)

Men’s Senior Eight: Final: 2nd, 6:17.87

And so we come to the official end of the Rowing Season for Queen’s. Queen’s Rowing would like to thank Lady Victoria Boat Club for all it’s continued support and the support provided for Queen’s Rowing throughout this Rowing Season, as well as to all the followers and supporters of Queen’s Rowing, particularly everyone who has helped prepare weekend porridge servings for the student Athletes of Queen’s Rowing, in particular Pamela Cunningham. Well done also to this year’s Club Committee, who worked well together to steward the club in the right direction throughout the season. Congratulations again to the Women’s Novice Eight and the Men’s Novice Coxed Four! Go on Queen’s!
Irish Rowing Championships 2013: Day Two
2 Aug 2020

Saturday saw an array of smaller boats competing from the Queen’s Lady’s and Queen’s Men’s Boatclubs, featuring Queen’s boats racing in the Women’s Novice Single, the Men’s Intermediate Single Scull and the Men’s Senior Pairs event.

The heats for the Senior Pairs event was one of the earliest races to kicks-start Day Two of the Irish Rowing Championships, which featured one entry from Queen’s consisting of QUB Vice-Captain Matt McKibbin at Stroke and Charles Cunningham at Bow. The pair finished third in their first heat, (times are unavailable for all competitors of their Heat) allowing them to progress to the final where they finished in 5th place with a time of 7:59.23. The top three crews in their finishing order were Galway A in 1st place, 7:29, NUI Galway in 2nd, 7.30 and St. Michaels RC B in 3rd, 7:44. The Queen’s men just missed out on 4th position to Galway B, who finished slightly ahead with 7:59.06.

Matt had this to say about his and Charles’ performance: We fielded a senior pair to warm our legs up for the straight final in the 8 on sun. good solid row in the heat saw us through to the final. unfortunately as the conditions worsened that day we didnt have our best row in the final and finished a disappointing 5th, but didnt worry too much as the focus had been on the 8.

The next race which Queen’s featured in was the Women’s Novice Singles Race, which had first year rower Rebecca Edwards representing the Lady’s club in the Single Scull. Rebecca won her heat, with a time of 11.30, which was a brilliant start to her racing for the weekend and a result which made for a promising final for her in the Women’s Novice Single event. In much tougher conditions, Rebecca raced hard in the final, finishing in third place, squeezing ahead of the Commercial sculler Jennings in the last 500m, who finished at 11.13 while Rebecca finishing with a time of 11.10. 1st place of the race went to Skibbereen sculler Hegarty at 10.42 and 2nd place was Commercial Sculler Foley at 10.52. Rebecca had this to say about her performance:

The massive head wind meant I had to row against the flow. My start wasn’t great because of the conditions. Racing the final, as I came to the 1k believed I could finish top 3. I started to wind up at 300m to go and saw the Sculler Jennings beside me. I saw my opportunity to take 3rd place and took it. Racing at champs was great, raced all weekend and enjoyed it all.

(Rebecca Edwards finishing 3rd in the Final of the Women’s Novice Single Sculls race at the Irish Rowing Championships)

Luke McCann was back in the single on Saturday also, representing the Men’s Club in the Men’s Intermediate Single Sculls Event. The Intermediate Singles Event was a step-up for Luke from the Lightweight singles race, as it was much more hotly contested, with six heats in total and with only the first and second placing scullers from each heat being granted eligibility to progress to the Semi Finals.

Luke raced well in his Heat and finished in second place (times are unavailable for his Heat unfortunately). Luke raced hard in his Semi-Final event, but unfortunately just lost out on coming in 3rd place, which would have permitted him to race in the Final, to the Portadown Sculler McKeown, with Luke finishing with a time of 9:14 and McKeown finishing with 9.09. The Winner of Luke’s Semi Final, the Skibbereen sculler Burns, went on to Win the Intermediate Singles Final, with a time of 9:04, while the Portadown Sculler McKeown finished in 6th place, whose correct time is unavailable.

Luke had this to say about his performance throughout the Men’s Intermediate Single Sculls Event:

It was great to compete in it, my heat went great; got into second which was a qualifying position and sat on the field to save energy. It was a great feeling to be able to sit at a lower rate and maintain a leading position. For the semi I was too tired to compete with my competitors which included the sculler who would go on to win, but it was the perfect end to be able to sprint finish and pip the Carlow sculler to 4th.

A promising set of results from Day Two of the Championships overall. As with the Senior Four on Friday, the Pair was always seen by Matt and Charles as preparation for the Senior Eight on Sunday. The two scullers Rebecca Edwards and Luke McCann performed particularly well and have achieved much already in what is only the end of their first year of Rowing for Queen’s. Onwards to Sunday…
Irish Rowing Championships 2013: Day One
1 Aug 2020

It is difficult to put yourself into the mindset of any athlete before any competition; these individuals are at a psychological extreme, mentally willing and motivating themselves to perform to their physical limits, to give a performance which is the fruition of their training while fighting back nerves.

The Student Athletes of Queen’s Rowing dealt with such a mindset as they made their way from the Queen’s Boathouse in Belfast on Tuesday morning all the way to the start line on Inniscarra Lake at the National Rowing Centre in Cork.

As well as the uncharacteristically high temperatures, blue skies and sunshine that competitors were met with throughout the majority of this year’s Championships, another welcome addition to the competition was the new stakeboat, moved over to the lake having been used at Eton Dorney the previous Summer, for the Olympic Rowing events at London 2012.

(Credit to Queen’s Men’s Club Coach Paddy Doherty for the above photograph)

The Queen’s Lady’s Novice Coxed four was the first Queen’s crew to compete for the Club over the Weekend. They raced their heat to a time of 8:09, placing 3rd which allowed them entry to the final against stiff competition from NUI Galway and Commercial Boat Club. Against much tougher conditions in the form of a strong headwind, the Ladies finished in 3rd place with a time of 8.24, while NUI Galway finished 2nd and Commercial in 1st place.

The Cox for the Novice Lady’s Coxed Four had this to say about the performance of herself and her crew:

There was strong competition in the fours race. I felt the crew definitely took it up a notch in the final and kept their composure to come 3rd overall. The conditions were choppy and I think that the girls coped very well with them, particularly in the final.

Luke McCann raced the Intermediate single on the first day of the National Championships, performing strongly in his heat to finish 3rd with a time of 9.14. The final was a much tighter event, with the winner of Luke’s Heat, Kenny from Grainne Mhaol finishing in 1st with a time of 8.09, Prendergast from Skibbereen, who finished 2nd in Luke’s heat, finished 3rd in the Final with a time of 8.30, while Luke finished in 5th Place, with a time of 9.10.

The rower, who is finishing his first year of University and competing for QUBBC as well as rowing for Methody at Junior level, had this to say about his performance in the Lightweight Single Sculls event: I went into it really apprehensive about it being a senior pot event, I thought I’d be completely out-classed. So being able to sit in a qualifying position in my heat was a big boost and being able to place 5th in the final even after my nasty collision with a few buoys was a highlight of my year. Shows how great the work over the year has been that I could jump into the boat for a few weeks and place 5th in a highly competitive senior event.

One of the most anticipated races of the weekend, the Men’s Novice Eight, also took place on the Friday, with the Queen’s Novice Men racing against UCC, UCD, Trinity and NUI Galway in a straight final. Queen’s launched themselves into the race with a rapid start, holding them ahead of close rivals UCC and up with UCD and Trinity, however the Trinity men had proved themselves to be the top competitors of the day, gaining clear water over all crews by the 750m mark. Queen’s held their lead against UCC throughout most of the race, until they were into the finishing stages of the race, when UCC made strong pushes to take their 3rd place position, leaving the Queen’s men in a finishing position of 4th place, with a final time of 7.06. UCC finished with a time of 7.01, UCD finished 2nd at 6.56 and Trinity finished 1st by a clear margin with 6.50.

A disappointing result for the Novice Men, however the race also provided understanding to the first year rowers how high the calibre of Novice Rowing is at this stage of the season as well as an example of how crew cohesion must be maintained consistently throughout the racing season, as there were changes to the crew prior to and after Henley regatta. Overall though, the crew agreed that they felt that they raced well and give it their best.

The Men’s Senior Four race was also a straight final. It was a very close race, with very little gaps between the finishing times for each of the crews entered. The Queen’s Senior Four crew were very much in the thick of it throughout the race, however finished just behind the crews in 6th place, with a time of 7.08. The winning crew was Grainne Mhaol with a time of 6.51. While of course this was moral sapping for the Queen’s Men, the Senior Four at Irish Nationals was never a priority race for for the Senior Men and was always considered more of a ‘leg-opener’ for the Senior Eight race on Sunday.

The first day saw some good performances from both the Men’s and Lady’s clubs, while others were seen as more disappointing. It was unquestionably though, a good way to ‘break in’ the competing Queen’s crews into the high calibre atmosphere of the Irish Nationals Weekend and was good preparation for the races to come in the competition.
Queen’s Rowing: Irish National Champs Info and Club Meal
15 Jul 2020

Irish National Championships 2013 Club Entries

Over this coming weekend, Friday July 19th until Sunday July 21st, the club will be competing in the Irish National Championships at Inniscarra Lake, Co. Cork, the biggest Regatta of the Irish Rowing Calendar.

Crews have been finalized and official entries made.

The Lady’s Club will be competing in the following races:

Women’s Novice Eight

Women’s Novice Coxed Four

Women’s Novice Single Scull

The Men’s Club will be competing in the following races:

Men’s Senior 8

Men’s Senior Coxless Four

Men’s Senior Coxless Pair (Four QUBBC Entries for this race)

Men’s Senior Double Scull

Men’s Intermediate Double Scull

Men’s Intermediate Single Scull

Men’s Lightweight Single Scull

Men’s Novice Eight

Men’s Novice Coxed Four

The timetable for races in which Queen’s will be competing in will be scheduled over the weekend as follows:

Friday:
Men’s Novice 8+ (Straight Final at 15:30)
Women’s Novice 4+ (Heats commencing at 09:45, Final at 12:30)
Men’s Senior 4- (Heats commencing at 14:00, Final at 16:10)
Men’s Lightweight 1x (Heats commencing at 14:20, Final at 16:30)
Men’s Senior 2x (Straight Final at 12:10)

Saturday:
Men’s Senior 2- (Heats commencing at 09:15, Final at 11:20)
Women’s Novice 1x (Heats commencing at 14:15, Final at 16:58)
Men’s Intermediate 1x (Heats commencing at 13:30, Final at 17:30)

Sunday:
Men’s Novice 4+ (Heats commencing at 10:00, Final at 12:00)
Men’s Senior 8+ (Straight Final at 16:00)
Men’s Intermediate 2x (Heats commencing at 13:55, Final at 15:50)
Women’s Novice 8+ (Straight Final at 15:00)

We at Queen’s Rowing hope to see you, our friends, fans and followers at this year’s Irish National Championships at the National Rowing Centre, situated at Inniscarra Lake in County Cork, to lend support and wish the club well!

Rowing Updates and commentary summaries of each day will be provided on a daily basis and updates on certain races will be put online as soon as possible.

Go go Queen’s!

End of Season Club Meal

This year Queen’s will be holding their annual End of Season Meal at a different location to previous years; Queen’s Rowing will be celebrating the end of the season with a Club Barbecue at Lee Valley Golf and Country Club on Sunday, July 21st at 7pm, as well as holding the passing over of positions to the new club captains for next season. The cost of the meal is €15 per person if paid in advance and €20 if paid on the evening. The contact details of Lee Valley Golf and Country Club is as follows:

Clashnure,
Ovens,
Co.Cork,
Ireland

+353 (0) 21 733 1721

reservations@leevalleygcc.ie

Lord Rana Visits the Boat House

Lady Victoria Boat Club President Ricky Caruth welcomed new club patron Lord Rana to the boat house on Saturday morning, 10 May. Lord Rana saw the boat house at it's typical bustling weekend best, talking to Queen's oarsmen and women, and members of the Lady Victoria committee, including club captain Maurice Warnock.

LVBC President Ricky Caruth welcomes new club patron Lord Rana to the boat house

LVBC committee member Barry McWilliams, QUBLBC Captain Catherine Campbell, Ricky Caruth and Lord Rana