New Cork club sets sights on Olympic glory for coastal rowing
Members of the Ballycotton Rowing Club taking a boat out along Ardnahinch beach in Shanagarry. Founded just 12 months ago, Ballycotton Rowing Club has quickly grown to nearly 100 members, with a 50/50 gender split. Picture: Howard Crowdy
A new rowing club in Cork has set its sights on producing Ireland’s first Olympic coastal rowing champions for the sport’s Olympic debut at the 2028 LA games.
It’s an ambitious vision for Ballycotton Rowing Club which was founded just over a year ago by husband-and-wife rowing coaches, Ger and Emer McLean.
“But it’s already the dream of some of our members — to compete and win at the next Olympics,” Emer said. “And as we’ve seen in classic rowing at some of the recent Olympic games, it’s achievable with hard work and the right coaching.
“We have the beaches. You’d be mad not to use them.”
Rowing will, for the first time, be featured in two different disciplines at the LA Olympics in four years — classic river rowing, the format dominated by Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy in recent years, and coastal rowing, through the beach sprints format.
The beach sprint involves rowers sprinting along a beach to their boat, rowing a course off-shore through the surf and around buoys, to arrive back at the beach and then sprint to the finish line.
World Rowing President Jean-Christophe Rolland said: “The inclusion of this format is expected to be transformational for our sport in terms of global exposure, and in making an exciting form of rowing accessible to new populations.”
And in East Cork, they’re taking to it like ducks to water.
Founded just 12 months ago, Ballycotton Rowing Club has quickly grown to nearly 100 members, with a 50/50 gender split.
It caters for under-12s to masters, actively encourages participation from people of all abilities, and promises a welcoming and supportive environment that it says may have proven difficult to find in more traditional team-based sports clubs.
It is affiliated with Rowing Ireland, the national governing body for the sport of rowing in Ireland.
Ms McLean said they see the debut of coastal rowing at the LA Olympics as a golden opportunity to inspire the next generation of athletes — people like Danielle Winters, who represented the club at Ireland championships and the world indoor rowing championships this year, finishing in the top 10 in the world, and in the top eight in Europe.
Club members have also won several individual and team prizes, including seven gold, four silver and one bronze at the recent national championships, and the club was named overall club of the championship at the recent local CRA regatta.
“The recent success of Irish rowers at the Olympics has already generated a surge of interest in the sport, and we aim to build on this momentum by providing young people with a clear route to realise their sporting ambitions,” Emer said.
“For children who haven’t found their sport, we find that rowing is often their thing,” she said. “It is a tough sport, it pushes you to the limits, but it’s so rewarding.
She praised the support of the club’s coaches and its committee, and its safety boat sponsors, Energy Wise, but said the club will be looking for new boats and sponsors next year.
The club runs indoor training sessions in Cloyne every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evening during the winter, focused on fitness, before water-based training resumes in January and February in scenic Ballycotton Bay.
A collection of the latest sports news, reports and analysis from Cork.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
