Cover image by Mark Kelly (thewateredge).
The Irish regatta season kicked off last weekend with Neptune and Commercial Regattas in Dublin. Attention now returns to the National Rowing Centre in Cork, where the Irish University Championships will take place this Friday. With five entries in the Women’s Senior Coxless four, let’s see who will likely come out on top in this straight final.
University College Dublin Boat Club (UCDBC)
University College Dublin come into this event following a successful Colours Boat Race campaign against neighbours Trinity College Dublin. Half of that crew race in this senior four and will look to take their success from the eight into the smaller four. Stroked by experienced oarswoman and former Irish international Aoife Feeley, we can expect a strong, powerful rhythm with the support of Sarah Butler and Tara Phelan in the middle pair, with Phelan coming third in Intermediate coxed four at the University Championships in 2023 and winning Erne Fours head. Completing the line-up is Dervila O’Brien, who was also a part of that 2023 intermediate coxed four with Phelan and more recently finished fourth at the Erne Fours head last November.
University of Galway Boat Club (UGBC)
The women of Galway are no strangers to success in the fours, having won this category in 2023. With the 2024 renewal cancelled due to weather, they remain the defending champions going into this edition. With Emma Fagan the sole returner of that 2023 crew, she will be hoping to lead her crewmates to another victory. These include Madison Donnelly, who was a part of the successful senior four crew at the 2024 Irish Championships, Isobel O’Byrne, who saw success in the intermediate pair and eight at the same Irish Championships, and finally, Ethel Rose Murray, also a part of the winning intermediate eight with O’Byrne. This crew will have the challenge of closing the gap on UCD following the results of Erne Fours Head where Galway finished 13th and UCD first.
University of Limerick Rowing Club (ULRC)
As the runner-up to University Galway at the 2023 Uni Champs, Limerick will hope to go one better this time around. Having opted to skip the Erne Fours head, this crew will be going into the race unknown but with experience from their 2023 crew. Caoimhe O’Sullivan and Orla Gaffney bring that experience alongside Chris Kirwan, who finished second in this category at the Irish Championships last year. Completing the line-up in stroke is Tara Long, who is swapping two blades for one and no doubt will take confidence from the experienced women she will have behind supporting her.
Remaining Crews and Prediction
Rounding out the field for the senior four are University College Cork Rowing Club (UCCRC) and Trinity College Dublin. Trinity will be desperate to get one up on UCD following their defeat at Colours in the eight and will take confidence that they could finish on the podium as two members of this crew finished ahead of University Galway’s coxless four whilst racing in the coxed four category at Erne Fours head. UCC will call on their experienced member Cliodhna Nolan to lead the crew from the stroke seat and hope to keep the title in Cork this year.
In a high-calibre field with experience across all five crews, one hopes for a good race with an exciting finish. With the Erne Fours head form, UCD took the crew to catch, but both Trinity and UL will be hard on their heels to round out the top three. Whilst University Galway did not have a great result at Erne, on a straight course, they could turn that result on its head.
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