Trinity Regatta 2025 – Women’s Intermediate Eight Preview

Infamous within the Irish rowing scene for its commitment to an equally high standard of racing and socialising, Trinity Regatta is a standout event on the Irish racing calendar. Co-hosted by Dublin University Boat Club and Dublin University Ladies Boat Club, in recent years, the quantity of Regatta entries for its two-lane knockout format has required racing to be spread over 1.5 days. It is the only Irish event to consistently play host to international entries, from the 2022 Cambridge University BC Women’s Blue Boat to frequent friends K.S.R.V. Njord.

The intermediate eight is a category to watch across both the men’s and women’s scenes in Ireland – exceptionally high-achieving athletes can still be pointed to slot into the bigger boats, and a winning boat in this category is likely to also do well in the blue riband senior eights, equivalating to a high quality of racing and fast times. For Trinity Regatta this year, two entries make the women’s event a straight final, with Islandbridge rivals Neptune RC and Dublin University Ladies BC taking to the start line on Saturday, 17 May.

Neptune RC

The Neptune entry features DULBC alums Laura Brown, Miriam Kelly, Alicia O’Neill, and Eimear Fahy. Brown represented Ireland at the 2024 Home International Regatta and won the championship coxed four alongside Kelly at the Metropolitan Regatta that season. O’Neill and Fahy are new faces to Neptune’s burgeoning women’s squad, but have made an impression after some time out of the sport to take up the seven and six seats in this lineup. Orla O’Loughlin and Nell Allison won the intermediate coxed four at Erne Fours Head of the River 2024 with Brown and Kelly, but that combination will have been disappointed with a recent comprehensive loss to DULBC in the senior coxed four at Commercial Regatta at the start of April. Xena Jordan at stroke comes from a coastal rowing background, including Irish representation, but this season has concentrated her efforts in flatwater- such seems to be paying off, as alongside Eilise Leydon (a novice with Queens’ University Belfast Ladies BC in 2023), Fahy and O’Neill, she took home the win at Skibbereen Regatta some weeks ago in the club coxed four.
A very similar lineup, with the only additions being pair partners Kelly and O’Loughlin, recently put down a solid performance at Skibbereen Regatta, beating out entries from Castleconnel and University of Limerick RC to triumph in the club eight.

DULBC

DULBC have concocted a fresh lineup for their home Regatta, combining several faces from their early-season top eight with their second crew. Jen Forde, Sarah Tavey, Imogen Cooney, Caoimhe Keller, and Izzy Howley came second to UCD at the University Championships in this category, while Róisín Cormican, Annie Moore, and Ginevra Guglielmi acquired an exact replica of the above result in the club eight. Forde, Tavey, and Cooney were all members of a standout coxed four DULBC raced across intermediate and senior categories last summer, taking a win at Cork Regatta and an agonising second at the National Championships. Cooney also raced at the 2024 Home International Regatta and recently took a confident victory over Neptune RC in the senior coxed four at Commercial Regatta. Keller, Howley, and Cormican were novices of the 2024 season, which culminated in a second place in the novice eight at the National Championships, but all three have impressed this season with their assimilation into the senior squad. Moore and Guglielmi are both ex-junior rowers of the UK and French circuits, respectively, and bring abundant experience to the crew. DULBC’s performances at the University Championships were of note, however – aside from the eights, Cooney won the intermediate coxed four while the B boat of Forde, Tavey, Keller and Guglielmi placed third. Moore and Cormican also rowed to a strong second in the club coxed four. Laying down repeated quality performances in a jam-packed regatta schedule is a significant testament to the Club’s training regimen, and it’ll be interesting to see how much more top-end speed they gain in a proper sprint season.

Prediction

Experience gives Neptune RC the edge, but I would be very surprised if this weren’t at least an exciting race. DULBC have demonstrated impressive early-season fitness, and squad depth was evident at the 2025 University Championships, meaning this crew has huge potential to gel together in the coming weeks, and I think this crew, or variations of it, will be one to keep an eye on for the coming season.