This past weekend saw a number of my clients racing well at the National Rowing Championship. The event took place at Rowing Ireland's National Rowing Centre in Farran, Co. Cork. With temperatures soring into the high twenties for Friday and Saturday, racing conditions were far different to training conditions and I've no doubt it made post race recovery, and pre race prep difficult. Here I breakdown some of the highlights in my National Rowing Championship recap for 2025.
Galway Rowing Club
In junior boys rowing Lynden Lydon got faster and faster with each day at the NRC. Lynden raced in the J18 1x, Club 1 1x, and Senior 1x. He finished sixth overall after racing some top class competition in the J18 1x. Progressing into Saturday for the Club 1 1x Lynden raced really well where he finished 3rd behind some very tough competition. It was a fantastic race and everyone involved with his success was incredibly proud of him, espcially his parents and also his coach Tom Elwood. On Sunday Lynden stepped up to the big leagues in the Senior 1x where he came up against some established names in rowing like Fintan McCarthy, and Brian Colsh. The big surprise for GRC was an impressive win in the J16 Girls 8+ where they flew out in front and kept the lead from the start! A huge performance, and well deserved! Plenty more to come from all the rowers in this club! Watch this space.
Here is a table detailing the accomplishments of the boys and girls in GRC:
| Group | Boat Class | Result |
| Boys J18 | 1x | 6th overall in Final |
| Boys J18 | 2x | 30th of 40 in TT |
| Boys J18 (Club 2) | 4+ | 15th of 20 in TT |
| Boys J18 (Club 2) | 1x | 3rd overall, 22nd & 33rd in TT |
| Boys J16 | 8+ | 5th overall in Final |
| Boys J16 | 2x | 31st of 39 in TT |
| Girls J18 | 2- | 5th overall in Final |
| Girls J18 | 4- | 4th in Final |
| Girls J18 | 4x- | 16th of 22 in TT |
| Girls J18 | 8+ | 5th overall in Final |
| Girls J16 | 4x+ | 6th overall in Final |
| Girls J16 | 8+ | Winner, National Champion! |
Shannon Rowing Club
Shannon Rowing Club had some tough races against stiff competition. They raced hard and fast and gave it everything racing to the line. The club had some great results on the girls side of the club with their J16 girls picking up a win in the coxed quad category, and third overall in the J18 coxless quad. Here is a list of their performances for the rowers on my cardio and strength programming:
| Group | Boat Class | Result |
| Boys J16 | 1x | 4th in Semi |
| Boys J16 | 4x+ | 4th in Semi |
| Boys J16 | 8+ | 4th in Semi |
| Boys J18 | 1x | 4th in Semi |
| Boys J18 | 4+ | 3rd in Semi |
| Boys J18 | 8+ | 5th in Final |
| Adult Men | LW 1x | 4th in Semi |
| Adult Men | Club 2 1x | 26th of 39 in TT |
| Adult Men | Club 2 4+ | 5th in Final |
| Adult Men | Club 8+ | 4th in Final |
| Adult Women | Club 4 | 5th in Semi |
| Adult Women | Inter 2- | 4th in Semi |
| Adult Women | Inter 4+ | 4th in Semi |
Other clients competing this past weekend included Sean Harte from Waterford Boat Club, and Emma-Jane Duggan from Garda Boat Club. Sean finished 6th overall in the J18 1x and 7th overall in the Club 2 1x. Emma-Jane and her 2x partner had a great race in the Intermediate 2x on Friday finishing 5th overall which was really impressive for two J18 rowers racing up two categories.
If youre looking ahead to next season and think you might need some help with your programming, strength training, or becoming more explosive, blease get in touch with me for a no obligation chat over the phone.