This Saturday, 7 February, the 3km stretch of meandering fresh River Shannon water between Castleconnell and O’Brien’s Bridge will see 483 crews in total take to the water, which will be, for the majority, their first time competing on the water for 2026.
One of the most exciting categories on display will be the Junior 18 men’s eights. Last year, this head of river saw nine eights competing under Junior 18 level, while this year it is only five. Besides that, there will undoubtedly be an array of talent and experience from older rowers, along with a new, challenging attitude from younger rowers who have made the move up to the junior level this year.
St. Michael’s Rowing Club
For many, watching SMRC over the past few years has been nothing but excitement. Having become increasingly dominant on both the national and international scenes, the club’s attitude must be electric. Though they will be up against tough competition, this weekend looks like being on local waters may prove incredibly valuable to them, as it has in the past. Vying to attain the win after they were beaten by Neptune Rowing Club last year, they have put out a strong and valuable lineout of rowers. Cox Ciaran Geary will be back in his seat from last year, while Rowing Ireland representative last summer, Evan O’Byrne, will sit opposite him. With St. Michael’s Head of River O’Byrnes’s last before he departs to join the elite Harvard University squad, this season will undeniably be one in which he hopes to achieve great success. Geary and O’Byrne will also be joined by Cian McNamara and Art Thornbury from last year’s Junior 18 eight. Yet, though they have a good, experienced crew, many of whom raced in other boats prior to this event, there is a very real possibility that they will become lethargic by 14:15 race time.
St. Joseph’s College – A & B
With the Galway club entering two boats in this category, they are sure to have a great chance of having excellent performances. The two boats include both experienced Junior 18 rowers who can reprise in their age group and newly categorised Junior 18s, who, as J16s, had a good season last year. It is also worth noting that last year at this head of river, St. Joseph’s also entered two eights yet under Junior 16 category, and the A boat finished first with the B boat being just less than 30 seconds behind them.
However, for the A boat this year, it will certainly not be as easy as last year for them, as they will be up against some strong crew combinations from opposing clubs. Cox Aaron Spelman will lead this boat out, having experience between the bustling Tideway at the Schools’ Head of the River in London, and the River Corrib’s choppy, unforgiving conditions. He has certainly been exposed to a wide range of conditions and situations, making him a valuable asset to the crew. Furthermore, the rowers facing him include Cyril Iakimov, one of the crew who recently competed in Philadelphia and also raced as a J18 last year, and behind him, there will be four rowers further down the boat who had an incredibly successful season last year as J16s, yet sadly fell short at the finish line of the championships last July.
For the B boat, they’ll hope the label given to them doesn’t stick, and I believe it won’t. With cox James Hobby, rowers Aidan Monaghan and Dylan Gaughan not only have incredible levels of experience in the sport, but also have raced internationally at the Head of the Schuylkill, Philadelphia. Yet they, along with an array of youthful talent lining the interior of the shell, will be anticipating a close race with their fellow crew members in the A boat. However, they will have to prove their place against close competition from fellow crew members.
Shannon Rowing Club
Though this additional Limerick club only has two rowers returning from last year’s boat, Aaron Sheehan and Leon Bader, I believe that they may be at a slight disadvantage compared to their fellow competitors. Though Bader holds numerous Irish ergometer records, and the crew members have performed well over the course of their rowing careers, some fell short of qualifying for the Junior 16 eights final last summer. This may show that overall youthfulness is a defining factor in how they will perform on Saturday. Nonetheless, given the club’s competitive nature, they will definitely take every opportunity to counter their rivals’ advancement.
Prediction
I believe that the first-place position will be claimed by St. Michael’s Rowing Club, while second and third will be too close to call. Yet the two boats in contention will be St Joseph’s A and St Joseph’s B. With the A crew possibly having a better start, the B crew may be in the chasing pack of the race’s first half; however, they should square up very evenly by the end.
One possible defining factor of all the rowers’ performances, however, will be the amount of racing they have done before their eights race. With many rowers across all boats entered having to race in smaller boats earlier in the day, this may affect the shell’s overall performance. Besides that, it will definitely be one of the most exhilarating and tight races of the day.
