John Keohane wins single scull at Grand League regatta (rowing)

John Keohane of Lee Valley , winner of the 2010 Intermediate single scull Irish Rowing Championship, won the men's single scull at Rowing Ireland's first Grand League regatta of the season with an commanding lead over his nearest rivals in the 'A' final, Carlow's Brady and Skibbereen's Murphy. An impressive entry, saw a total of five finals (A to E) run.

The Men's Eight 'A' final was won by the University of Limerick/Garda Siochلna composite in a tight finish of just two seconds ahead of Trinity and just three seconds ahead of Neptune Boat Club. The top two crews from the University championships, UCD and Queens, did not race in today's event.

Kerry's Muckross Olympic duo, Cathal Moynihan and Sean Casey showed their experience winning the men's senior double scull by nine seconds over Skibbereen's young but promising crew. The Neptune/Cork Boat Club composite came in third, eighteen seconds from the leading Kerry double. St. Michael's Rowing Club's Junior Women's eight crossed the finish line in first place three seconds ahead of Trinity's senior women and a further three ahead of NUIG's intermediate women.

Fog delayed the morning racing for a period, but the organisers had the racing schedule back on time within a number of hours. The new Grand League style regatta format resulted in a high standard of close racing at all levels. Promising for the rest of the season, as well as for the
sport as a whole, was the large junior entry, with twenty crews in the events being commonplace in a number of Junior 15 events.

The second Grand League regatta will be hosted by Queen's University in Castlewellan, Co. Down on May 14th.