Who Wants It More?
As racing progresses in the Irish flat-water rowing calendar, it can be difficult to know if you’re on the right track. Perhaps you’ve gone to an event and lost by a lot, or won by a lot. So where does…
Luke Smyth
SuperComp in Rowing: Structured Process or Fingers Crossed it Works?
The Irish National Rowing Championship is soon approaching (July, 2026), and a term that is gaining traction or growth over the last few years is supercomp. Traditionally supercomp has been a 2 week (sometimes longer) period of very hard training…
How to Interpret Your Rowing Power Profile
Have you recently been given feedback from Rowing Ireland’s Beach Sprints High Performance (BSHP) group, but don’t understand it? There are many ways to interpret the info, and here are some examples to explain it in more detail. General Improvement…
Regatta Season S&C? Use it Or Lose it!
For rowers and coaches in Ireland, this time of year often represents a shift away from gym work. Traditionally, many programmes would turn towards more water sessions with brighter evenings, sacrificing the gym sessions. The main instance I would take…
Physio Visit Cheat Sheet
The bottom line is if you don’t want to get injured, don’t play sport. Depending on the stage of the pathway you’re in or your son/daughter is in, training demands will have a different impact on the body. Training to…
Time to Introduce Sprint Training into Your Programme
Calling all beach sprint rowers and coaches! If you have not done so already, it is time to introduce sprint training into your programme. Beach sprint rowers must be fast on the beach and on the water. Here I discuss…
Client Highlight: Kenny McDonald
Kenny has done it again! This weekend Kenny set a world record in the 1 minute rowing erg race with a split of 1:20.3 in the men’s light weight 50-55 year old category. Only a week earlier Kenny set the…
The Case Against ON Cloud Shoes in the Gym
ON shoes are increasing in popularity. As a previous owner of ON’s “Cloud” shoes I can attest to their comfort under foot. They are lovely for long walks or jobs involving standing and moving for long periods of time (coaching…
An Underestimated Exercise for Athletes
On social media there is a lot of emphasis placed on exercises that look cool and get a lot of views or engagement. Athletes and coaches should not get distracted by these advanced exercises. For the most part, every athlete…
Coach Perspective on the World’s Toughest Row 2025
The Jasper Solo, aka Daragh MacLoughlin, executed a very successful campaign in the solo World’s Toughest Row category. Below are some thoughts thats might be beneficial to you if you’re thinking of racing in the WTR in future. This is…