The Garavogue River was host to one of the first regattas of the season – Sligo Rowing Clubs regatta took place on Saturday 18th April. The three-lane course covered a distance of 800 meters allowing for some excellent sprint racing. Close to 500 athletes from all over the West and North of Ireland participated.
There were large entries from clubs like Enniskillen Royal Boat Club, Athlone, Carrick-on-Shannon and St. Josephs Secondary School (The Bish) Galway. The Grammar had 5 students entered through Sligo Rowing Club. The students picked up a couple of medals on the day, led by Adam Foley in the Men’s Junior 18 single scull. Adam also went on to win in the J18 double scull with his team mate Tom René-McEnroe. Buoyed by this success he stepped up to the higher-level race of Men’s Intermediate Singles and this race proved to be the highlight of the day. Foley was drawn alongside Adam Kenny of Athlone. The Westmeath man is already a well-established contender in Rowing Ireland trails and has had plenty of success at Irish and international regattas. The two scullers took off hard and fast and were matching each other in the
early stages of the race.
Towards the middle of the race, it looked like Foley had edged out a slight lead, but Kenny was never going to let Foley have it all his own way and pulled back into contention with 300 meters to go. Dealing with tricky wind conditions neither sculler could afford to take the stroke rate too high and had to rely on pure power to close out the race. In the end it came right down to the finish line with Kenny just pipping it over Foley.
This was top end racing at its finest and while Foley was disappointed not to be taking home the medal, he certainly will have gained a lot from the experience. Continuing the theme, younger brother Ben Foley picked up a medal in his J16 single scull competition and also had some exciting races in the double and quad, finishing a close second in both those races. Euan Cradock gained more race experience in the single scull as well as teaming up with Ben in the quad. Yann McGuinness competed in his J16 double and later in the day stepped up to J18 level in a quad which did well to finish second in a strong field. Meanwhile second year Searlan Sibartie competed in his very first ever regatta, racing in a quad. All the students and parents would like to thank Sligo Rowing Club for running such an enjoyable and successful regatta. Next up, Adam and Ben Foley go on to represent Sligo Grammar School at the National Schools Regatta in Limerick next weekend.
Pictured is Adam Foley (SRC) in a battle with Adam Kenny (Athlone) at the closing stages of the Men’s Intermediate singles race.
