Grassroots rows in behind thriving sport

As the year draws to a close and clubs around the country continue a hard winter’s training, we look back on an unprecedented year of success for Rowing Ireland.

Finally an Olympic medal, after more than 100 years of Rowing Ireland and the Irish Amateur Rowing Union. The sport is thriving around the country; there is massive interest from schools and a huge rise in domestic entries at events — that’s not forgetting the high-performance results across the boards at international regattas.

The Rowing Ireland schools programme, ‘Get Going… Get Rowing’, has gone from strength to strength. Having started off as a small pilot programme in 2014, the initiative has grown to schools across Leinster, Connacht, and Munster. Three community coaches have just been recruited to launch the programme in Limerick City and county through funding obtained under the dormant accounts scheme.