Sport | Rowing |
---|---|
Jurisdiction | Ireland |
Founded | 1899 |
Affiliation | FISA |
Affiliation date | 1948 |
Headquarters | National Rowing Centre, Cork |
President | Susan Dunlea |
CEO | Michelle Carpenter |
Vice president(s) | Connacht: Martin Hogan Leinster: Aoife Habenicht Munster: Lisa O’Callaghan Ulster: Brenda Ewing |
Director | Neville Maxwell, Carol-Ann Smith, Garth Young, TJ Ryan, David Hussey, Dominic Burke |
Secretary | Brian O’Flaherty |
Coach | HP Director Antonio Maurogiovanni Coaches Fran Keane, Giuseppe de Vito, Dominic Casey |
Other key staff | Leo Gibson (Treasurer); Claire Lambe (Women in Sport lead); Derek Bowen (Get Rowing lead); Pat Kiely (Club Support Officer); Denis Regan (Club Support Administrator); Alec Moffett (Financial Officer) |
Official website | |
www | |
Rowing Ireland, formerly the Irish Amateur Rowing Union, is the governing body of rowing for Ireland. [1] [2] It is a cross-border organisation administering the sport in both the Republic of Ireland [1] and Northern Ireland. [2]
Rowing Ireland is a member of the Olympic Council of Ireland [3] and the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron (FISA). [4]
In excess of 100 clubs are affiliated to Rowing Ireland. [5] These are from every part of the island and include schools, third level institutions and open clubs.
In 2019 Rowing Ireland launched its strategy until 2024. This has four pillars: Supporting clubs, High Performance, Rowing for all and Leading our sport.
The National Rowing Centre (NRC) in Farran Wood, Cork is the headquarters of Rowing Ireland and is also the base of the High Performance team. The centre has an eight-lane Albano course and hosts a number of regattas and the Championship Regatta each year. Every four years it hosts the Home International Regatta. [6] In 1999 and 2008 it hosted the Coupe de la Jeunesse [7] It successfully hosted the event again in 2018. [8]
Established in 1899 as the Irish Amateur Rowing Union, the association hosted its first championship in 1912. [3] At the 1912 AGM, which was held in February, it was agreed that a cup be purchased for £100 for the Union to be presented for annual competition amongst senior eights. This would in time become known as "The Big Pot". The inaugural Senior eights championship took place at Metropolitan Regatta in Ringsend on the Lower Liffey in July 1912 and City of Derry Boating Club were the winners. [9] It would be 1934 before the Junior (Intermediate) eights championship was added. [10] Since then many additional championships have been added and 44 are now contested each year at the Championship Regatta. [11] In 2017 it added the Irish Offshore Rowing Championship and in 2018 the inaugural Irish Coastal Rowing Championships took place. The results of all championships can be found at www.irishrowingarchives.com
Rowing Ireland is responsible for the selection and management of the Irish national team, through its High Performance programme. Crews are selected for regattas such as the Olympic Games, World Rowing Championships, European Rowing Championships, and the World Rowing Cup. [12]
This was the team selected for the 2023 World Rowing Championships, held in Belgrade, Serbia. [13] [14]
Boat | Name | Date of birth (age) | Club |
---|---|---|---|
M4- | Fionnan McQuillan-Tolan | November 11, 1994 | University of Galway |
M4- | Adam Murphy | December 18, 2002 | UCC |
M4- | Jack Dorney | April 6, 2001 | Shandon/ Harvard University |
M4- | John Kearney | April 21, 2001 | UCC |
W4- | Natalie Long | June 13, 1990 | Lee Valley |
W4- | Imogen Magner | July 8, 1998 | Carlow |
W4- | Sanita Pušpure | December 21, 1981 | Old Collegians |
W4- | Eimear Lambe | August 11, 1997 | Old Collegians |
M4x | Konan Pazzaia | July 5, 2001 | Queen's University Belfast |
M4x | Ronan Byrne | April 17, 1998 | Shandon |
M4x | Andrew Sheehan | November 26, 2002 | UCC |
M4x | Brian Colsh | July 11, 2002 | University of Galway |
M2- | Ross Corrigan | January 4, 1999 | Portora |
M2- | Nathan Timoney | September 6, 2000 | Queen's University Belfast |
W2- | Aifric Keogh | July 9, 1992 | DULBC |
W2- | Fiona Murtagh | July 11, 1995 | University of Galway |
M2x | Daire Lynch | June 19, 1998 | Clonmel |
M2x | Philip Doyle | September 17, 1992 | Portora |
W2x | Zoe Hyde | January 31, 1997 | Killorglin |
W2x | Alison Bergin | February 25, 2002 | Fermoy |
LM2x | Fintan McCarthy | November 23, 1996 | Skibbereen |
LM2x | Paul O’Donovan | April 19, 1994 | UCC |
LW2x | Aoife Casey | June 1, 1999 | Skibbereen |
LW2x | Margaret Cremen | January 5, 1999 | UCC |
PR2 Mix2x | Steven McGowan | August 18, 1997 | Galway |
PR2 Mix2x | Katie O’Brien | August 30, 1996 | Galway |
LM1x | Jake McCarthy | November 23, 1996 | Skibbereen |
LW1x | Siobhán McCrohan | June 29, 1987 | Tribesmen |
This was the coaching and management personnel selected for the 2023 World Rowing Championships, held in Belgrade, Serbia. [13]
Name | Role |
---|---|
Antonio Maurogiovanni | High Performance Director |
David Breen | Pararowing Coach |
Dominic Casey | Lightweight Coach |
Giuseppe De Vita | Women's Team Head Coach |
Fran Keane | Men's Team Head Coach |
Nicolo Maurogiovanni | Men's Team Coach |
Ashlee Rowe | Women's Team Coach |
Orla Doolin | Physiotherapist |
Heather O’Brien | Physiotherapist |
Michael O’Rourke | Team Manager |
Ireland first sent a boat to an Olympic regatta to the 1948 Summer Olympics, where they sent a men's eight. [15] The IARU received its affiliation from FISA on the 3rd of August, 1948, two days before the start of the regatta, allowing Ireland to send a crew. [16]
It was not until 1972, when Seán Drea entered the men's single sculls, coming seventh. [17] Ireland would go on to field at least one crew at every Olympic regatta except 1984. [18] Four years later, Drea came fourth in the same event. [19]
At the 1996 Summer Olympics, the crew in the men's lightweight coxless four consisting of Derek Holland, Sam Lynch, Neville Maxwell and Tony O'Connor also came fourth. [20]
It was not until 2016, when brothers Gary and Paul O'Donovan broke through and won Ireland's first Olympic medal in rowing: a silver in the men's lightweight double sculls. [21] The O'Donovans' relaxed interview style endeared followers and they became internet sensations in the wake of their success, [22] and they were invited on to The Graham Norton Show for its 2016 New Year's Eve special. [23]
At the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, Ireland entered thirteen athletes across six boats, more than any other Olympic regatta. The women's coxless four, consisting of Emily Hegarty, Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, and Fiona Murtagh, won a bronze medal, [24] and Paul O'Donovan joined Fintan McCarthy to win Ireland's first rowing gold in the men's lightweight double sculls [25]
For the 2024 Summer Olympics, Ireland has so far qualified twelve athletes across six boats. [26]
Games | Event | Rower(s) | Club | Medal |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rio de Janeiro 2016 | LM2x | Gary O'Donovan | Skibbereen Rowing Club | Silver |
Paul O'Donovan | UCD Boat Club | |||
Tokyo 2020 | LM2x | Fintan McCarthy | Skibbereen Rowing Club | Gold |
Paul O'Donovan | UCC Rowing Club | |||
W4- | Aifric Keogh | UCC Rowing Club | Bronze | |
Eimear Lambe | UCD Ladies Boat Club | |||
Fiona Murtagh | NUIG Boat Club | |||
Emily Hegarty | Skibbereen Rowing Club |
At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Ireland fielded a crew in the mixed coxed four. [27] For the 2024 Summer Paralympics, Ireland has qualified a boat for the PR2 mixed double sculls. [28]
Ireland has won sixteen gold, eight silver and eleven bronze medals at the World Rowing Championships. [29] [30]
Year | Event | Rower(s) | Club |
---|---|---|---|
Vienna 1991 | LM1x | Niall O'Toole | Commercial Rowing Club |
Lucerne 2001 | LM1x | Sam Lynch | St Michael's Rowing Club |
LW1x | Sinead Jennings | St Andrew Boat Club | |
LM2- | Gearoid Towey | Neptune Rowing Club | |
Tony O'Connor | |||
Seville 2002 | LM1x | Sam Lynch | St Michael's Rowing Club |
Rotterdam 2016 | LM1x | Paul O'Donovan | UCD Boat Club |
Sarasota 2017 | LM2- | Mark O'Donovan | Skibbereen Rowing Club |
Shane O'Driscoll | |||
LM1x | Paul O'Donovan | Skibbereen Rowing Club | |
Plovdiv 2018 | LM2x | Gary O'Donovan | Skibbereen Rowing Club |
Paul O'Donovan | |||
W1x | Sanita Pušpure | Old Collegians Boat Club | |
Ottensheim 2019 | LM2x | Fintan McCarthy | Skibbereen Rowing Club |
Paul O'Donovan | |||
W1x | Sanita Pušpure | Old Collegians Boat Club | |
Račice 2022 | LM2x | Fintan McCarthy | Skibbereen Rowing Club |
Paul O'Donovan | UCC Rowing Club | ||
PR2W1x | Katie O'Brien | Galway Rowing Club | |
Belgrade 2023 | LM2x | Fintan McCarthy | Skibbereen Rowing Club |
Paul O'Donovan | UCC Rowing Club | ||
LW1x | Siobhán McCrohan | Tribesmen Rowing Club |
The European Rowing Championships were re-established in 2007, after a hiatus dating to 1973. At these, Ireland has won six gold, five silver, and five bronze medals. [31]
Year | Event | Rower(s) | Club |
---|---|---|---|
Brandenburg 2016 | LM2x | Gary O'Donovan | Skibbereen Rowing Club |
Paul O'Donovan | UCD Boat Club | ||
Račice 2017 | LM2- | Mark O'Donovan | Skibbereen Rowing Club |
Shane O'Driscoll | |||
Lucerne 2019 | W1x | Sanita Pušpure | Old Collegians Rowing Club |
Poznań 2020 | W1x | Sanita Pušpure | Old Collegians Rowing Club |
Varese 2021 | LM2x | Fintan McCarthy | Skibbereen Rowing Club |
Paul O'Donovan | UCC Rowing Club | ||
Munich 2022 | LM2x | Fintan McCarthy | Skibbereen Rowing Club |
Paul O'Donovan | UCC Rowing Club |
Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, each rower holds two oars—one in each hand, while in sweep rowing each rower holds one oar with both hands. There are several boat classes in which athletes may compete, ranging from single sculls, occupied by one person, to shells with eight rowers and a coxswain, called eights. There are a wide variety of course types and formats of racing, but most elite and championship level racing is conducted on calm water courses 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long with several lanes marked using buoys.
World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation, is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who succeeded Denis Oswald at a ceremony held in Lucerne in July 2014.
The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA. It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the international rowing calendar.
The European Rowing Championships is an international Rowing regatta organised by FISA for European rowing nations, plus Israel which, though not a member of the European federation is treated as a European nation for competition purposes.
Rowing has been part of the Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1900 Games. Rowing was on the program at the 1896 Summer Olympics but was cancelled due to bad weather. Only men were allowed to compete until the women's events were introduced at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal which gave national federations the incentive to support women's events and catalysed growth in women's rowing. Lightweight rowing events were introduced to the games in 1996. Qualifying for the rowing events is under the jurisdiction of the World Rowing Federation. World Rowing predates the modern Olympics and was the first international sport federation to join the modern Olympic movement.
The Adelaide University Boat Club is a rowing club affiliated with the University of Adelaide. The club was founded in 1881, and in 1896 helped to form the Adelaide University Sports Association. The main clubrooms, donated by Robert Barr Smith in 1909, are located on the north bank of the River Torrens on War Memorial Drive, adjacent to the Adelaide University Sports Grounds. The shed has two boat bays, a gym and weights room and a small bar. The club also leases a secondary boatshed at the South Australian Rowing Association complex on Military Road at West Lakes, and also trains regularly at Port Adelaide's North Arm Creek and Murray Bridge. Members have included rowers of all levels, from total beginners to Olympic Gold Medallists. The club shares the nickname "The Blacks" with the Adelaide University Football Club.
David McGowan is an Australian high-performance rowing coach and former representative rower. As a rower he was a junior world champion, competed twice at senior World Rowing Championships for Australia and raced at the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics in a coxless four. As a coach he has had head coaching roles in the national rowing programmes of The Netherlands and Ireland.
A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain.
Simon Burgess is an Australian national champion, two-time World Champion, three-time Olympian and dual Olympic silver medal-winning lightweight rower. He represented Australia ten times at World Rowing Championships between 1990 and 2002. He won world and national championships in both sculls and in sweep-oared boat classes during an eighteen-year elite level career.
The 1978 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 October to 5 November at Lake Karapiro near Cambridge, New Zealand. Twenty-eight countries were represented at the regatta. In the history of the World Rowing Championships, 1978 was the only year when the lightweight rowing championships were not held in conjunction with the open men and women event; the lightweight events had already been held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in August.
Samuel Beltz is an Australian former lightweight rower. He is a 16-time national champion, a world champion and dual Olympian. He competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics and represented Australia at the premier world class regattas over a fifteen-year period from 1999 to 2014.
The rowing competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 6 to 13 August 2016 at the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in Lagoa. Fourteen medal events were being contested by 547 athletes, 334 men and 213 women.
Roderick Chisholm is a British lightweight class former rower who represented both Great Britain and Australia at world championships. He is an Australian national champion, a World Champion and a dual Olympian who competed at the world class level in both sculls and in sweep-oared boats.
The rowing competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo took place between 23 and 30 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo Bay. Fourteen medal events were contested by 526 athletes.
Paul O'Donovan is an Irish lightweight rower. He is an Olympic gold medallist in lightweight double sculls where he set a new world's best time for that event and is a five-time world champion in single and double sculls.
Gary O'Donovan is an Irish rower. Together with his brother Paul he won the gold medal in the lightweight double sculls at the 2016 European Rowing Championships, silver in the same discipline at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and gold at the 2018 World Rowing Championships. He was the flag bearer for Ireland during the closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The team of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, which competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, represented athletes from both the Republic of Ireland and those from Northern Ireland who choose it instead of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the team's twenty-second appearance at the Summer Olympics, having attended every edition since 1924 except the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany.
Fintan McCarthy is an Irish lightweight rower. He is an Irish national champion and a world and Olympic champion. He won the men's lightweight double sculls championship title with Paul O'Donovan at the 2019 World Rowing Championships and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where he set a new world's best time for that event. He also won a bronze medal in lightweight single sculls at the 2020 European Rowing Championships.
The rowing competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are scheduled to run from 27 July to 3 August at the National Olympic Nautical Stadium of Île-de-France in Vaires-sur-Marne. The number of rowers competing across fourteen gender-based categories at these Games has been reduced from 526 to 502, with an equal distribution between men and women. Despite the slight changes in athlete figures, the rowing program for Paris 2024 remains constant from the previous edition as the competition will feature an equal number of categories for men and women, with seven each.