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!
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!