The rowers of Donegal did their county and country proud at the 2024 World Rowing Coastal Championships held last weekend.
A total of 284 entries from 35 nations raced on San Nazaro Beach, Genoa, Italy, at the weekend at the 2024 event.
Racing took place over three day’s with an entry list packed with Olympic Champion’s, experienced coastal rowers, National and Club rower’s making it quiet an extraordinary sport, where club rowers from Donegal are in the very same race as Olympic Champion’s!
And sock it to them this Kincasslagh Rowing Club (KRC) women’s quad crew sure did!
All seven boat classes were raced over the 4k course and a new set of Coastal Champion’s were crowned in challenging sea condition’s as rower’s navigated the busy port of Genoa, dodging pleasure boat’s and running alongside the busy shipping lane’s, having to contend with the backwash from large cruise ship’s, tanker’s and container ship’s. This is Coastal Rowing – rowing’s wilder cousin.
Coastal women’s coxed quadruple sculls (CW4x+)
This boat class was won by a boat from the Netherland’s last year and while the Dutch were to be one of the favourite’s this year, it was a different line-up.
The two women’s double’s joined force’s, along with Dieuwke Fetter, who coxed the men’s eight to a silver medal at the Paris Olympic Game’s. However, enter Hawkes Bay Rowing Club from New Zealand, while the Dutch crew were able to boast 2 Paris Olympic medallist’s, the Kiwi boat had 3 – including 2 Champion’s, Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors, who won gold in the women’s double and Emma Twigg who won silver in the women’s single!
Another boat stacked with Olympian’s represented Ukraine and contained the entire Ukrainian women’s quad crew that finished 5th in Paris!
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It’s amazing that in this mix were not one, but three Irish women’s club crew’s. Kincasslagh women’s quad crew with Donegal woman Niamh Doogan, Dineka Maguire, Katie Shirlow and Claire Feerick and coxed by Donegal man Cian Sweeney from Loughross Point Rowing Club.
A composite crew from Kerry coxed by Ireland’s Coastal Rowing Chairman, David Hussey and the up and coming young rowing star’s from Irish Champion, Monika Dukarska’s Club, Killorglin, with an average age of 17 and themselves both Irish Coastal and River Champion’s were coxed by Donegal Bay Rowing Club’s Méabh McNamara.
It was McNamara’s second year at the World’s, bringing some experience to her crew, their first World Championship’s. Husband and wife duo Susan and Peter Doyle from Wicklow Rowing Club were in the Polish boat, with Peter as coxswain. Poland, another boat of Olympian’s including Agnieszka Kobus-Zawojska the wife part of another rowing couple with husband Maciej Zawojski. The Zawojska’s are no stranger’s to Ireland and the coastal racing scene here, coming for year’s competing in Irish Regetta’s.
KRC win their heat
Heat 1: New Zealand 1st, Germany 2nd and Doyle’s Polish boat 3rd. McNamara’s Killorglin young star’s coming in 11th in a heat dominated by Olympian crew. Heat 2 saw the crew from Ukraine take an early lead. However, while the strong crew led for the majority of the race, there was disaster for them in the latter stage’s. The crew missed one of the turning marker’s and had to return to take it. During that they were judged by the Umpire to have caused interference and were awarded a time penalty. The crew failed to complete fully the requirement’s of the time penalty and were subsequently excluded. While Ukraine were returning to the turning marker, Kincasslagh were able to take the lead and the Kincasslagh crew crossed the line first, 3rd fastest time in the heat and beating the Dutch Olympian’s by 12 seconds.
KRC in A Final – Splash, Dash and Crash
The Dutch Olympian’s made a decisive move in the latter stages of the race and were able to overtake Doyle’s Polish crew which had been leading all of the way to the final 1km, to take 1st place in 17:53.82, with Poland 2nd 18:02.51. Collisions, saw Hussey’s boat receive a time penalty still coming in 7th place at 19:27.52 ahead of two strong USA boats and 2 GB boats filled with more former Olympian’s
The battle was on for 3rd spot. The Kincasslagh women put in incredible pace and expert coxing from Sweeney saw KRC move past Monaco to 5th then Germany to 4th and with a few hundred meters to go the battle for 3rd place was firmly between Kincasslagh and the New Zealand Olympian’s. The Hawkes Bay crew taking 3rd by a bow at 18:23.29. Kincasslagh 4th, 1.8 seconds behind at 18:25.11. Gutted, Sweeney who’s stellar navigating of the buoys, turning points, crash’s and splash’s saw him manoeuvre the boat safely around the course taking advantage of the carnage and moving swiftly through the pack, “3 more stroke’s and we’d have had them, 3 more stroke’s and we’d have taken the Bronze” said Cian after their epic performance. Sweeney has just spent 5 months at sea as a deck officer with Arklow Shipping crossing the Indian and Atlantic Ocean from Singapore to Jamaica, part of his training studying BSc in Nautical Science at The National Maritime College in Cork. “Bridge Watchkeeping” it states on the syllabus – an introduction to the theory and practice of keeping a safe navigational watch. He certainly did!
Sunday’s B Final, saw Donegal Bay’s McNamara’s experience at the World’s keep her boat out of trouble and take her Killorglin crew across the finish line in 1st place in 19:26.78 ahead of the other novice and junior crew’s from Holland, France, Britain and USA.
Coastal women’s solo (CW1x)
We said last week that one of the hottest race’s to watch the weekend would be the women’s single scull’s and it didn’t disappoint with dramatic drama! Dukarska v Dymchenko – the Irish Champion and reigning World Champion, Killorglin RC’s Monika Dukarska and Irish Olympic rower raced to defend her title with closest rival Diana Dymchenko, rowing for Baku RC, Azerbaijan.
The first heat of the women’s solo Friday was won by Dukarska who was last year’s winner in this boat class. The second heat saw a win for last year’s silver medallist, Dymchenko.
With lots of pleasure boat’s out on the water Saturday’s A Final’s conditions were starting to get a bit more challenging. Berra from France had the initial lead but Dymchenko was chasing her hard. The rest of the field was then quite far behind. Dymchenko had taken the lead by the first timing point and the reigning champion Dukarska had moved into second place.
A challenging leg saw all solo’s struggling a little but the top three continued to be Azerbaijan, Ireland and France. It was that order that the boat’s crossed the finish line, however, it was announced after the race that Dymchenko had missed a turning marker and her result was therefore a DNF “Did Not Finish”.
The disqualification for Dymchenko reshaped the leader board with Dukarska to seize the gold with a time of 20:39.51 after a thrilling women’s solo race, showcasing Dukarska’s incredible determination and resilience.
All in all, Ireland had 30 rower’s compete this weekend, 15 women in 5 boat races and 15 men in 8 boat race’s.
World Beach Sprint Finals this weekend 14th-15th September
The racing continue’s this weekend on San Nazaro beach, Genoa.
Doogan’s socks for sure will be dry by the time she jump’s back in a boat, this time in the mixed double racing along with Noel Creedon from Ring Rowing Club. Doogan and Creedon are the Irish Champion’s.
Creedon raced at the weekend in the Mens Double with Neil O’Sullivan, coming 3rd in their heat and finishing 7th in 17:48.18 in the A Final.
Grace Masterson from Donegal Bay RC will also be racing in the U19 mixed double scull’s with Jack Hehir Rosscarbery RC. They too are going into this weekend’s race as Junior Irish Champion’s.
Dukarska, the newly crowned World Coastal Champion, Irish Coastal Champion and Irish Beach Sprint champion will be going for gold this weekend, along with Hussey’s mixed quad crew.
Tune in live to watch the action on World Rowing’s YouTube channel.
A special shout out to Donegal’s Ukrainian Visitors
Ukraine has always been a dominant nation in Olympic rowing and World Championship’s alike.
They did not disappoint in Genoa. Not long after leaving Paris the double men’s scull pair of Igor Khmara and Stanislav Kovalov rowed to gold in 16:55.68 to become World Coastal Men’s Double Champion’s, knocking the Swede’s and Fin’s of the top spot which the Scandi’s had dominated in recent year’s.
In the Men’s quad final, France and Spain were the fastest off the start but the crew from Ukraine soon made up lost ground and were leading the charge too. Sweden were challenging Finland for the silver medal approaching the penultimate turning mark while Ukraine had started to extend their lead. It looked like it could be a photo finish for second and third place, but the gold medal was not in doubt! The Ukrainian Men’s quad crew of Yuriy Ivanov, Mykola Mazur, Ivan Futryk, Ivan Dovhodko and coxed by Anastasiia Kozy, took the podium in 16:00.91.
Least we forget the Ukrainian Women’s quad crew coming 5th in Paris and then crossing the line in the women’s quad but subsequently being disqualified in the Heat’s on Friday allowing the Kincasslagh boat to take 1st place. The rowing team of Yevheniia Dovhodko, Kateryna Dudchenko, Daryna Verkhogliad, and Anastasiia Kozhenkova, gutted will have learned that rowing’s wilder cousin has a lot more to contend with than rowing on flat water in a straight line for 2 km!
