Couple Paddy and Liz row-in for Ireland

A Clare couple rowed for Ireland at the Homes International Regatta in Cardiff Bay last Saturday.
Paddy Quinn, Clarecastle, and Elizabeth Gill from Ennis are members of the St Michael’s Rowing Club in Limerick.
“Last Saturday’s event was the 50th annual Homes International Regatta between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which this year was held on the 1500m, four lane, rowing course at Cardiff Bay,” Paddy told The Clare Champion this week.
In Cardiff last week, Paddy rowed in the men’s eight and men’s coxed four while Liz competed in the women’s eight and the lightweight pairs.
Paddy was part of a team that finished a very close second to Wales, beating England by a third of a length into third place and Scotland into fourth.
“The senior men’s eight was a very tight race with less than one second covering the four crews after 1,500m of racing. The home crew from Wales just nipped it on the line, about one foot ahead of the Irish crew, with England and Scotland less than half a boat-length back,” said Paddy.
In the coxed four, the Irish team came in third spot.
In the women’s eight, Liz and her team were second to England while beating Wales and Scotland. In the lightweight pairs event, Liz placed third place with crewmate Fran Judge from the UCD Ladies’ Boat Club.
A week earlier, Paddy was in second place with St Michael’s in the Irish Senior Championships while Liz and her team were in third place in the intermediate eights.
“Liz and I competed as part of a 74-strong Irish team made up of senior and junior (U-18) men’s and women’s crews selected from rowing clubs across the country.
“We competed with 10 from our local rowing club, St Michael’s in Limerick,” explained Paddy.
Paddy has been rowing for the past 10 years, having started with the University of Limerick. Liz has been involved in the sport for the past four years, having started with the Neptune Club in Dublin.
Paddy and Liz were two members of a 12-strong representation from the St Michael’s Club, which were involved with Irish teams at last week’s event.
In all, the club has 256 members that have represented Ireland.
“This brings the end to nine months of hard training for us both. The new season will kick off in September,” Paddy added.
Other Clare-based athletes who represented Ireland at the event were Mark O’Brien from Parteen (St Michael’s RC), who raced in the men’s pair (fourth) and men’s eight (second) and Ruth Gilligan from Parteen (Shannon RC), who raced in the junior women’s coxless four (third) and junior women’s eight (second).
Meanwhile, Kate O’Brien, Ardnacrusha, will represent Ireland at the World Junior Rowing Championships, where she will be going in a singles scull event.