SGS at Indoor rowing championships

The Irish Indoor Rowing Championships took place on Saturday 4th February at UL. Sligo Grammar School had a total of nine students from the rowing club entered in individual events and two team events. The squad left Sligo in the early hours to be at UL for the first race, the Men’s Junior 15 time trial with 57 rowers from all over the country taking part. Conn Reid, Adam Foley, Fiachra Dowd, Ronan Mullan and Phil Mulrooney represented SGS, with Adam Foley the first home for SGS with a distance of 1379 meters. This was a new ‘personal best’ for Adam earning him a finish in the top ten, followed closely by his crew mates Ronan Mullan and Conn Reid who achieved great results that earned SGS three places in the top 15. Tiara Smet-Guerra competed in the Women’s Junior 16 1000m trial. Tiara set off at a blistering pace and was sitting in third position by the half way mark. At the finish, she completed the distance in a time of 3 minutes 49 seconds, just 5 seconds behind the winner and an overall position of 4th. Jack Kennedy and Jaime Plesker-Sheerin competed for the first time and although neither were medal winners they completed their events in excellent times, great achievements for competitors so new to the sport. Finn Reid was entered in the Junior 16 2000m event and was on track to get an excellent time but unfortunately had to pull up at the half way mark with an injury. The school also raced as a team in the Mixed Junior 16 event and the Men’s Junior 18 event. This was the first time we competed in the team events and while there were no medals it was a great experience for the rowers and they will be well prepared for the next outing – the Sligo Schools Indoor Rowing competition which is being hosted by the Sligo Grammar School on 15th March. SGS Rowing Club would like to thank coach Ronan Ivers and acknowledge the support of the school principal, Mr. Hall and also the parents who helped with the logistics on the day.