ROWING NUIG the big winners at Tribesmen / Rowing Ireland Head of the River competition

NUIG rowers continue to maintain a serious challenge in Irish rowing, capturing many of the more prestigious pennants on offer at last weekend's Tribesmen / Rowing Ireland National Head of the river competition.

Both the men's and women's Senior Eight and Four were won by the college, albeit the women in composite with neighbours and host club Tribesmen.

With conditions on the Corrib verging on balmy, a full and competitive programme of races was on offer. The hardships of the winter months were readily forgotten as over two hundred crews took to the water - many competing for one of Rowing Ireland's inaugural National Head titles.

In the event, the Connaught clubs were well represented on the winners podium, with wins posted by NUIG, Tribesmen, Carrick-on-Shannon, St Joseph's, Colلiste Iognaid, Athlone and Galway. Notable amongst the visitors was the re-emergence of Neptune after some quiet seasons, and the strength of many of the Cork/Kerry clubs amongst the younger age groups.

NUIG's closest competition was from neighbours Galway, but, with a backbone of seasoned Olympians, Alan Martin and Cormac Folan, posted a 30-second winning margin in four and eight.. The NUIG/Tribesmen four also had a good margin over Commercial, but the eight had a mere second to spare over the Dubliners.

St Joseph's again proved that they are the bellweather of men's junior rowing, posting a time within one minute of NUIG in the four for a fifth overall position, and within 45 second on the eight, coming in fourth overall. Those suggesting Bann are a shoo-in for the junior championships this summer will surely have food for thought.

The results in the Sculling/Pairs race was notable in that both men's and women's senior scullers were fastest of both sculls and pairs. Liam Molloy (NUIG) and Siobhan McCrohan (Tribesmen) are both lightweights.

A Castleconnell adaptive eight, crewed by rowers with disabilities, made a first-time appearance and raced over the course.
Veteran Olympian and three-time Diamond Sculls winner Sean Drea made a rare appearance in the single and sculled over the course, later presenting the prizes.

And so ends the winter "Head" season with attention now moving to the Universities/Schools championships' regatta at the National Rowing Centre in Cork on the 10th of April, followed by the Skibbereen Regatta on the same course the following day.