ROWING UCDs Sean Jacob retains Single Scull title, Purspure wins Womens Singles and Skibbereen win Senior Quad at National Rowing Championships

UCD's Sean Jacob retains Single Scull title while Purspure wins Women's Singles at National Rowing Championships

Reigning single sculls rowing champion, Sean Jacob of UCD Boat Club retained his title at the national rowing championships in Cork over the weekend.

Jacob had a comfortable win finishing nine seconds ahead of second placed Richard Coakley of Skibbereen. This is Jacob's third Championship win in this event.

In the women's single scull, Old Collegian BC's Sanita Puspure, the defending senior women's sculling champion also defended her title beating Tribesmen's
Siobhan Mc Crohan.into second place with Hayes of Skibbereen third and Monika Dukarska of Killorglin fourth.

Dublin club Neptune's Claire Lambe and Elaine Fitzgerald ended a fantastic season for them by winning the women's senior pair landing the club its 150th championship. The Dublin club remains in first place on the league of winners (1912-2010).

The senior women's double scull provided the highlight of the morning session on Sunday with three boats finishing in quick succession, but Sanita Puspure and Siobhan Jacob of Old Collegians were in control, holding off the challenge of Eimear and Joanne Moran of Offaly and Siobhan McCrohan and Lisa Dilleen of Tribesmen, Galway.

The senior men's double was a much tamer affair, with Niall Kenny and Mark O'Donovan well ahead of the St Michael's crew of Sam Lynch and Peter Hanily at the finish.

Turlough Hughes had to battle to win the men's junior single scull. The giant King's Hospital man passed Shane O'Driscoll of Skibbereen in the third quarter of the race, but he had a mere two seconds to spare at the finish.

Skibbereen took the women's junior single title, through Christine Fitzgerald, and the men's intermediate double, and Alice O'Sullivan of University of Limerick won the women's novice single.

Skibbereen again won the men's senior quad by a mere 0.4 seconds from the UCD/St. Michael's composite. The crew consisted of two of the four under 23 athletes who medaled at the World Rowing Championships in Belarus earlier this year.

The women's senior quad was dominated entirely by composite crews and though just three boats entered, the boats were made up of eleven individual clubs with the composite of Tribesmen/UL/OCBC/Killorglin winning. St. Michael's/Offaly/Skibbereen crew took second place with third going to the Belfast/Carrick-on-Shannon/City of Derry/Methodist College crew.