Cover image: Mark Kelly (thewateredge).
With the head season out of the way, every rower’s favourite season is upon us – regatta. The NRC, notorious for bad weather, is looking to provide the scenery and the summer sun for the Irish University Championships. The ladies competing in this category will be coming for the title and, after training hard over the winter season, are surely ready for the challenge.
Trinity College Dublin (DULBC)
With two boats entered in the category, the Trinity College Dublin ladies are ready to fight for this title with a vengeance. After a successful weekend at Neptune and Commercial Regattas, the ten ladies from DULBC will search for the gold in this event. Both crews raced head-to-head last weekend and will know what each other and UCD are capable of. With this recent racing over shorter distances, both crews will undoubtedly be prepared for the physicality required for the conditions the NRC may throw at them.
University College Dublin (UCD)
Over the past few events, the intermediate ladies from University College Dublin have shown dominance. With a win at Tribesman Head of The River and another victory over DULBC last weekend at Neptune Regatta, there is sure to be some underlying confidence in their ability to race over regatta distance. With Farrell’s experience in the coxing seat, these women will rely on her ability to continue this recent dominance in the four.
University of Limerick (UL)
Having been a little quiet over the last few months, the University of Limerick is sure to have been working endlessly behind the scenes. Notably, the boat has some big names – Tara Long in the two-seat, who came second in the women’s open 2000m in January, and Sadbh Scully in the bow, who has previous Irish Championship wins in sweep categories. Will this experience and watts be the thing to, alongside the crew’s hard training, get these ladies the win?
University of Galway
The final crew entered into this event hail from the west coast – the University of Galway. The ladies in this crew are potentially the best versed out of all the crews entered to deal with the conditions that the NRC may present on the day. With some hard training going on behind the scenes, this unit is sure to present a challenge for the other competitors on the day. Murray and O’Bryne, bow and stroke respectively, have been training tirelessly in the pair, and this sweep expertise is sure to spread into the crew. They are one to watch.
Predictions
Always the hardest bit of writing a preview; however, I believe that University College Dublin may just win this event, with the University of Galway and the University of Limerick chasing them down on fresher legs.
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