A group of Donegal women will represent Ireland in the World Rowing Coast Championships in Italy this weekend.
The 2024 Championships will be held from 6th to 8th September and World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals 13-15 September, 2024 in Genoa, Italy.
Niamh Doogan with her Kincasslagh Rowing Club (KRC) quad crew will represent Ireland rowing against the best women’s crews in the world on the San Navarro beach this weekend.
Crews will race 4km or 6km around a course of buoys and turning points in the open sea, providing some exhilarating racing.
The KRC crew are made up of Dineka Maguire, Katie Shirlow and Claire Feerick, ably coxed by rower and expert coxswain Cian Mac Suibhne from Loughross Point Rowing Club.
The KRC’s women’s quad crew came home with a silver medal from the recent Irish Championships held in Bantry and a 5th place at the European Championships in Gdańsk, Poland at the beginning of the summer.
Méabh McNamara from Donegal Bay Rowing Club (DBRC) will be coxing the Killorglin Rowing Club’s women’s quad crew this weekend.
Meabh McNamara in action
Méabh herself, picked up a bronze medal at the Irish Championship’s in the women’s single race and the coveted gold coxing her Killorglin crew to victory, now rowing into the World Championship’s as The Irish Champion’s.
Killorglin Rowing Club’s, Monika Dukarska need’s no introduction in the world of Coastal rowing.
Monika Dukarska
The Olympic rower is, reigning and 3 time World Champion, Irish Champion after picking up gold in the single and in that quad coxed by Méabh as well as bronze in the double at this year’s Irish Champs, she’s going to the World’s as hot favourite.
The race to watch this weekend will be Monika defending her title against Diana Dymchneko from Azerbaijan, a clash of two of the world’s best rowers.
World Rowing’s Facebook page will live stream the racing over both weekends. Tune in to watch the action.
Beach Sprints
Niamh and Noel
KRC’s Niamh Doogan, won’t have much time to catch her breath or dry her socks, back racing again in the Beach Sprint final’s the following weekend 14-15 September, this time racing in the mixed double with Noel Creedon from Ring Rowing Club. Niamh and Noel were in a class of their own being crowned the Irish Champions at The Irish Beach Sprint Finals in Brittas Bay, Wicklow this summer.
Grace Masterson from Donegal Bay (DBRC) will be racing in the Junior mixed double with Jack Hehir, Rosscarbery Rowing Club (RRC). They too are going into the Worlds as Junior Irish Champions after rowing for gold at The Irish Beach Sprint Finals.
Grace Masterson in action
Coastal rowing is an exciting and emerging discipline of rowing, which will be included in the LA 2028 Olympic programme. It’s an incredible turn out again for Ireland this year on the World Coastal Rowing stage. The 2023 World Championships had Ireland bring home 3 gold medals, in the men’s single, the women’s single and the mixed double.
Rowers from 13 Rowing clubs around the country raced throughout the season in both junior and senior discipline’s in all event’s to qualify to represent Ireland at the World Championship’s.
World Rowing’s Facebook page will live stream the racing over both weekend’s. Tune in to watch the action.
What is Coastal Rowing?
Olympic rower Monika Dukarska (IRE) described coastal rowing: “The similarity (with flat-water rowing) is the movement of the stroke, everything else is different.”
Coastal rowing uses wider hulls with a levelled off stern to allow water to flow out of the boat. It usually takes place on open water, and does not shy away from waves and wind (unlike its flat-water counterpart). It is the extreme version of rowing, and perfect for adventure seekers who enjoy the thrill of the unknown rowing conditions and beautiful coastal scenery. It is one of the fastest growing communities of rowers, and is particularly accessible to rowers based in locations where flat water is not nearby. Coastal rowing is easier to learn than flat-water rowing, due partly to the stability and robustness of the boats which differs from the Olympic-style boats. To become a good coastal rower, crews must be aware of tides and currents, learn about the course’s topography and know what to do in the midst of maritime traffic and in case of bad weather.
Coastal rowing can be found in all corners of the world, including the Maldives, many parts of Africa, the coasts of North and South America, and more traditionally in Europe.
In World Rowing competition, two formats of coastal rowing competition take place:
At the World Rowing Coastal Championships, the endurance format is raced. This format sees crews racing in 4-to-6 kilometre races around multiple turning points. It is a challenge of both endurance, skill, navigation, and adaptability to the changing conditions of a longer distance.
At the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, the beach spring format is raced. Beach Sprint is a head-to-head elimination style of racing, with a short sprint along the beach, a 250m row, and a 180-degree turn before rowing back to the beach and sprinting to the finish line. Competitions are structured such that athletes who progress further are required to race multiple times within a short time window. This discipline of rowing tests your power and strength, as well as coastal navigation skills and performance under fatigue.
There are currently seven boat classes for men and women: the solo, the double sculls, the coxed quadruple sculls and the mixed double sculls.
