With the toughest months of winter training now behind us, sighs of relief are being heard around the country as focus turns to racing once more. St. Michael’s Head of the River, held along an accessible three-kilometre stretch of the Shannon, is an excellent opportunity for crews to blow off the January cobwebs and test their early-season mettle against a Western-heavy entry field.
The entries for the junior women’s pairs are healthy for a busy, early-season Head race, yielding five crews from four clubs. The 2025 season saw this category dominated by the remarkable duo of Aida Hehir and Cloda Phillips of St. Michael’s RC, culminating in a flawless row and victory at the National Championships. It will be fascinating to see which pairing steps into their shoes this year.
Galway RC ‘A’ and ‘B’
Galway RC are sending two entries to O’Brien’s Bridge, with the ‘A’ crew comprising Lily Couturier and Beatrice Kelly. Despite their young age, this duo raced at the November HP trials, placing a respectable seventh in the junior women’s pairs time trial. Both athletes were also members of the Galway RC junior sixteen eight that triumphed at the National Championships last July, so with high-level experience across both small and big boats, I expect a technically sound row and a big result from this combination.
The ‘B’ boat of Ciara Stapleton and Ciara McCallion also raced at the November trials, placing twelfth to Couturier and Kelly’s seventh. Equivalently, both are also members of the winning Junior 16 eight from the 2025 Championships. The St. Michael’s HOR course is a fantastic location for a litmus test of early-season speed within this promising Galway squad.
Athlunkard BC
Limerick locals Athlunkard’s entry is named as Ingrid Thunder Biesty and Anna O’Shaughnessy. Racing the Junior 16 double last season, this combination won at both the Fermoy Sprints and the Lee Regatta, but were disappointed at the Championships, not making it out of the heats after a solid performance in the time trial. It will be interesting to analyse how they mature as athletes and possibly shift their focus to sweep rather than sculling, especially in their first year as juniors.
Cork BC
Making the trek from the idylls of the Marina in Cork are Olivia Kiely and Amy Scannell, another young duo with a similar profile to the Athlunkard entry. Both athletes are fresh out of racing J16 at the Championships and historically emphasise the sculling discipline, typical of younger athletes. Kiely and Scannell are doubling up to race the pair after the Junior 18 quad with Lily O’Flaherty and Áine Cronin, so the day’s racing will be a good barometer for early-season fitness and the dividends, if any, gained from a big winter’s training block.
Waterford BC
All the way from Waterford BC come Edie O’Flaherty and Katie Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick recently attended the Rowing Ireland High Performance trials in the single scull, completing the time trial in the lower half of the field, but the experience of going up against the best the nation has to offer is one that will stand to her as the lungs open up halfway through a Head race. The athletes are no strangers to one another, having competed together at the 2025 Championships in the junior eighteen double and raced together frequently over the season, building to that point.
Prediction
I think the pairs from Galway RC will take the one-two, with their recent solid performances at HP Trials a good indicator of early-season speed, combined with their known technical prowess from their Championship win last season. For the minor placings, it’s harder to call, but the straightforward course (minimal bends, only three kilometres long, and strong flow in the direction of racing) will likely lead to fast times and tight results. I think Cork BC will take third, with Athlunkard and Waterford rounding out the table.
