All-Ireland success for Vartry Rowing Club at 2017 Coastal Rowing Championships
Caption: l/r Samantha Doyle, Liz O’Toole, Nicola Fitzgerald with their coxswain George O’Brien, silver medal winners in the Ladies Celtic Longboat race at the 2017 Coastal Rowing Championships. Missing from pic is fellow crew member, Sarah Byrne.
Caption: l/r Shay Dunne, Andrew Breen, Joe Quinn, Peter Doyle and George O’Brien from Vartry Rowing Club, winners of the 2017 Celtic Longboat Men’s race at the 2017 Coastal Rowing Championships.
Vartry Rowing Club in Wicklow, sponsored by Flogas Ireland, won two All-Ireland titles and two silver medals in the recent All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships on the weekend of 18-20th August at Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal. The club’s two championship wins came in the All-Ireland Intermediate Men’s race, their second time in a row to win it, and the All-Ireland Celtic Longboat Men’s race. A Vartry crew also won silver in the latter category and its ladies team won the club’s second silver in the Ladies Celtic Longboat race.
George O’Brien, chairperson, Vartry Rowing Club, “Our club has won seven national medals in the past two years and the support from Flogas has been a very important part of that success. Such a big medal haul is a remarkable achievement for an organisation that still doesn’t have its own clubhouse and is testament to the dedication and commitment of its members despite not having a proper home for the club.”
George also had some special praise for two of its crews competing at the Championships. “The under 21 men’s team qualified for this championship for the very first time and came sixth out of 14 so we were extremely proud of their achievement. Some members of our ladies’ team were first-time rowers this year so their silver medal win was a fantastic result against some very seasoned competitors.”