PICS & VIDEO: Humble Skibbereen rowing club manages to produce Olympians against all the odds

Kenny McCarthy’s abiding memory of Leander Rowing Club, where the Thames smooth waters glide, are of marble counter-tops in the toilets of a splendid pavilion-style building where Britain’s leading oarsmen avail of the very best care a rower can get.

“It’s a hotel really. They have everything. Chefs. Guys to check the angles of their oars. You name it, they have it. When you compare it to Skibbereen Rowing Club — well, what can I say. It makes us look like something from Cool Runnings.”

Cool Runnings, for those not in the know, is a movie where a Jamaican bobsleigh team competes for Olympic selection despite never having seen snow. A quick trip around Ireland’s now most famous rowing club justifies the comparison.