The first Irish high performance trials of the 2026 season are scheduled for trials this weekend! The National Rowing Centre better be prepped for some fast paced times in the junior women’s pairs. At the time of writing, a tailwind is likely to provide some assistance to the racing crews.
Eighteen pairs including two composite crews across eleven clubs are entered.
The composites are Shannon/ Castleconnell and Fermoy/Skibbereen following a callout for the latter from Fermoy coach Ray Morrison for a pair partner for Brigid Mahon. It will be particularly interesting to examine how the composite crews perform so early in the season, weighing the talent onboard against the advantage that same-clubs crews have with familiarity, experience rowing together, and so on. With a significant number of crews doubling up in both the singles and the pairs, there are opportunities for rowers to demonstrate their strengths in both sculling and sweep.
The composite crew of Brigid Mahon and Gracie Bates from Fermoy and Skibbereen have both competed for Ireland, in the Home Internationals and Coupe De La Jeunesse respectively. Mahon winning a gold in the Homes JW4- and Bates having a wealth of highly competitive racing experience behind her having competed in Henley Royal Regatta in the Challenge Cup for Junior Coxless Fours.
I also expect the Enniskillen pair to perform well with their usual stellar quality for junior women’s sweep rowers.
Another club known for having very strong junior women’s pairs is St Michael’s RC of Limerick. With their multiple Irish Championship winning crew having aged out of junior, Siun Larkin and Clodagh McDonagh will definitely have some incredible performances to live up to.
The Skibbereen C crew are also contenders with Abigail Fowler having competed in Coupe de la Jeunesse in the JW4-.
Prediction
It really could be anyone’s race with an excellent calibre of crews entered, but I expect Enniskillen to claim the fastest time. However, if Mahon and Bates have had the time in the boat I expect them to be strong contenders also.
