Grand League regattas make for, I think, some of the most exciting races of the year, with crews across four or five categories lining up to race against each other for the Division 2 or 1 title, respectively. The men’s senior eight contest at Skibbereen this weekend has two clear frontrunners for the overall Division 1 pennant in Commercial ‘A’ and Cork, with the remaining four entries fighting not only for the third podium position in their category but also against the nine non-senior crews racing Division 1.
Commercial RC ‘A’ and ‘B’
Commercial are entering two crews in the senior category, both of which have seen some successes on the water this year. Notably, Commercial’s A crew won the overseas pennant at the Head of the River Race in London, beating Cork, Commercial B, and UCC in that order. A somewhat different Commercial crew beat Cork and Commercial B once again, as well as DUBC at Erne Head in early March. Though most of the athletes in both the A and B crews raced this weekend at Neptune and Commercial regattas, the crews seem to have been mixed. It bears mentioning that one of these mixed crews beat the same Dublin University crew they will be racing this weekend. A strong showing from Commercial A goes without saying, but I would not be surprised if Commercial B finds themselves racing for a top-three finish this weekend.
Cork BC
Commercial A’s biggest challenger will be this Cork Boat Club crew, a similar crew to that which won the senior eight pennant at the Irish Championships, with Irish Rowing vet Fionnan Tolan still in the five-seat. Cork’s reputation precedes them, but they have their work cut out for them after Commercial A came in 22 seconds ahead at the Head of the River Race. They’ll no doubt be looking to start another campaign to reclaim their position as the fastest boat in Irish rowing, but Commercial A will be hot on their heels—that is if Cork is not already in the rearview.
Dublin University BC
This crew will be looking to prove a point. After significant losses at both Erne Head and Colours and less than stellar showings in the eight at Neptune and Commercial regattas—though it should be noted, they came first and second in coxed-fours—DUBC certainly have some kinks in their system to work out. Though I doubt they’ll have done enough by Saturday to win, hopefully, they can put up a good fight against UCC, Shannon, and the other Division 1 crews.
University College Cork RC
UCC was another crew that made the trip to London for the Head of the River Race, though their sixth-place performance in the Overseas category was likely not quite what they were hoping for and may not bode well for the weekend against the first and second-place crews in that category. It is unlikely that they will have made up the difference between themselves and Cork and the Commercial crews in the few weeks since their trip to London, especially with the loss of seven-man and Rowing Ireland mainstay John Kearney who, alongside Adam Murphy, another senior member of Rowing Ireland, made up half of a very strong stern-pair for UCC at HORR. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how they shape up on a straight-lane, two-kilometre course, given the Head of the River Race was their only event so far this year,
Shannon RC
This crew has come out of nowhere, given they tend to race in the club category, including just last weekend at Commercial Regatta, where they lost in a straight final to one of the Commercial mixed eights. All of their notable races at the weekend featured one or another of the crews entered here, including a defeat to the club coxed four-winning half of the DUBC crew entered here and a win over the stronger half of the Commercial B crew, whom they’ll also be racing at the weekend. This will solidify Shannon’s ability to hold its own against crews more used to racing in the senior category.
Prediction
There is little doubt that Commercial A and Cork will take the top two spots. I hesitate to say who will win, but I think Commercial might take this one. Commercial B also has a solid chance of finishing third, given that they’ve beaten UCC before.
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