Neptune Headlines 2007
2nd December 2007
Irish Ergo Champs - UCD
A great showing by the new novice ladies over the 2,000 metre distance saw the Green & Black Attack take home an impressive medal haul at the annual Ergo Champs held at UCD's Belfield Sports Centre. Top honours went to Edel Lane ( 8:06:04 ) and JoAnne O'Driscoll ( 8:32:05 ) as winners in their category but congratulations to all who took silver and bronze as well as those outside the medals.
10th November 2007
Neptune Head of the River
Blessington was again the venue for a field of about 200 boats racing over two heads in some difficult conditions as the new rowing season kicked off for real. The 'Green & Black Attack' had twenty entries over the two races and came away with three wins. Notable performances from the consistent Sean Walsh taking the Men's Inter single, Cathal Moynihan and Paddy Quinn teamed up again in the double for their senior pairs win and the relative 'old boys' took home the Master's four pennant with Mick Mc Carthy, Alan Ludlow, Phil Keane and Marti 'Moose' Eisenring in the bow. Great performances also from the rest of the senior men in the 2X which, from ten entries, saw Neptune take positions one to four. The new novice men's and women's eights did really well in their first outing which bodes well for the coming months. As always the event was a model to the Irish rowing community on how a competition like this should be run - well done to all involved.
19th & 20th October 2007
FISA World Rowing Costal Championships
Sean Walsh, Aodhan Kely & Aidan Harwaood made the long trip to Cannes in the south of France to compete in this 8km race in coastal rowing quads. The competition was quite steep and the lads could just manage an impressive 17th from a field of 27 in their semi final. Unfortunately it was just the top 15 that went to the final. Aidan Harwood sustained an ankle injury during the race meaning the lads couldn't compete in the B final but they will be back again next year again.
13th October 2007
42nd Dublin Sculling Ladder
Some decent conditions with just a hit of a head wind saw another successful running of the Dublin Sculling Ladder at Islandbridge. Sixteen Neptune athletes took part, all male, with the best result coming from Sean Walsh with a creditable 5th position overall, roughly 30 seconds behind Sean Jacob the winner in an impressive 6 mins 30 sec.
Well done to all the lads who took part.
29th & 30th September 2007
1st Annual Rowing Tour
The club sent a group of intrepid warriors to Carrick on Shannon to take part in the long trek to Lanesborough over two days. The 56 kms were navigated by Dave Cormack, Gary O'Callaghan, Jesper Ravn, Phil Keane and Alan Ludlow with an ex Neptunian, Alan Laverty, stroking the Offaly quad. It was a low key affair with only three boats brave enough but reports of the weekend point to a definite repeat next year.
28th July 2007
Home Internationals
Mixed results for Ireland but good results for Neptune on the day of the Home Internationals in Farran Wood. The day started with a second for Claire and Elaine in the lightweight WS 2- followed on by a great win by Kevin and John in the lightweight MS 2-. It was second all round from then on with Mary in the double, Sile in the four, all the girls in the eight, Aidan in the double and Kevin and John in the eight. It was left to Aidan in the last race, MS 4X, to bring the event to a good end with just Ireland's second senior win of the day.
14th July 2007
Irish Championships
Day Two
The sun came out for day two of the champs and saw the young juniors in action again in the morning, this time it was the sculls. Mark O'Hara finished in 5th position in his final, while in the same event, Daniel Murphy decided to take an early bath but was rescued quite quickly and only suffered a dunking in the lake. The WS 4- finished 3rd in their final, beating a strong UCD B crew but behind UCD A and Muckross who won it. Mary and Sile were in action again in the WI 1X final but could only manage a second ( Mary ) and a fourth ( Sile ). Laura Gannon came fourth in the WJ18 1X and John Forde third in the MI 1X final followed by Sean Walsh ( 4th ) and Aidan Harwood ( 6th ). Aidan and Sean were out again in the MS 2X final and came in a very strong 3rd. The highlight of the day was left till the second last race of the day when the heavily fancied UCD senior VIII suffered their first loss in four years in Ireland at the hands of the Neptune / Muckross / Waterford composite, losing by nearly two lenghts in the end. The first senior VIII title to come to Neptune since 2001 was very welcome. Well done to all involved.
13th July 2007
Irish Championships
Day One
A rain soaked Farran Wood played host to day one of the champs which started quite well for the club. The Junior 14 4X+ took a gold medal early in the day with the Junior 15 4X+ coming in 4th in their final. The recently formed MJ18 2- found it tough going in the final with a 6th position while the MN 8+ made the final and fought hard to come in 5th. The beginners of the WN 4+ came in 6th but had a good row and are well motivated for the 2008 season. A couple of tough to take 2nd places were in store for the MS 2- and WS 2- who both lost out by very narrow margins. The highlight of the day came at lunchtime when Mary and Sile romped home in the WS 2X final to take the club's first senior title since 2004.
30th June 2007
The Wee Man & Therese
Wedding of the Year
Gary & Therese show us all how to groove in the Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick. Best of luck for the future guys. See more under the pictures section.
30th June 2007
Monkstown & Cork Harbour Regatta inc. Home Countries Regatta Trials
A small group from the club traveled to the National Rowing Centre at the weekend but certainly made an impact on the race course. After good performances all year the composite of John Forde and Kevin O'Connor won the Senior 2- with ease with the same to be said for the lightweight pair of Claire Magee and Elaine Fitzgerald crossing the line first ahead of the heavyweight field. In the sculls, Mary Donovan took a creditable second and Sile Mooney fourth in the Senior category with Laura Gannon, still a junior, getting third in the B final. Aidan Harwood, squeezed out in the semis took first in the Senior B final and Andrew Hayden took a creditable third in the Junior 16 event. The final crew list for the Home Countries Regatta will be out on Tuesday 3rd July - Check back here for details.
22nd - 24th June 2007
Henley Women's Regatta & Marlow Regatta
Rain, rain and more rain was the order of the weekend at this year's Henley Women's Regatta. The club sent over a very strong Senior 2X of Mary Donovan and Sile Mooney and an Elite Lightweight 4- with Claire Magee, Elaine Fitzgerald, Maedhbh Toibin and Amy Currivan. The 2X kicked off in winning style by beating Sons of the Thames in their first round on Friday, putting pay to Hollingworth Lake BC and then Star RC on Saturday with comfortable 3 length plus wins setting them up against a very strong Reading Marlow composite in the semi finals on Sunday. After being down off the start, the girls just couldn't claw their way back and ended up 2 lengths off the pace by the finish. The final saw the Reading Marlow composite win over Newcastle University. The Elite 4- had a very tough opener against a much taller Oxford University crew and although they were in contention for most of the race, lost out by 3/4 length in the end. Whatever the result it was invaluable race practice for the National Champs in a few weeks time, well done.
Over the road in Marlow it was business as usual, as the very strong and consistent Senior 2- composite of John Forde & St. Michael's took gold against tough competition. The lads are certainly looking good coming into the season crunch time.
16th June 2007
Athlone Regatta
Good race conditions but a miserable day saw another good day for Neptune at Coosan point on Saturday. Paddy Moore, returning after his leaving cert, rowed very well with Aidan Harwood to be edged into 2nd by NUIG in the MS 2- final early in the day. The MI 1X heats saw Aidan again win and Sean Walsh take first in his to set up a Neptune one two in the final, Aidan taking the gold this time. The MJ14 gang, proving unstoppable this season, won the 2X and the 4X+ again - Daniel Murphy and David Butler in the 2X joined by Jack Browne, Mark O'Hara and coxed ably by Conor Murphy. Indeed it wasn't Conor's only win of the day as perhaps the performance of Neptune's visit to Athlone was the win by the ladies of Denise Wall's novice squad in the WN 4X+ final. Well done girls!!!! ( see photos section )
3rd June 2007
Carlow Regatta
Daniel Murphy went head to head with Mark O'Hara and came out on top, showing the strength of Neptune junior sculling, at Carlow Regatta on Sunday in the MJ14 1X final. It was also business as usual for the very strong MJ14 4X+ as they too came across the line first to take the gold.
2nd June 2007
Metro Regatta
A breezy day out in lane 5 and 6 made for a real 'luck of the draw' event in an overcast Blessington. Neptune faired quite well with the ladies crews coming out on top in the WS 1X with a comfortable win by Mary Donovan and a hard fought final 250m that brought the WS 4- up through the field to unluckily miss out to UCD by 3/4's of a length. Sile just scraped past Mary in the WI 1X to take gold ahead of her double partner which bodes well for Henley Women's Regatta at the end of the month. The men faired quite well on the day too with wins for John Forde in the MS 2- composite, Florin Apetroae in the MS 1X and the unstoppable MJ15 4X+ taking gold despite racing a year above their own standard. The MS 4X- had a great race all the way with Carlow and were very unlucky to miss out by a canvass.
19th May 2007
Portora Regatta
Some difficult race conditions faced the Neptune junior men in Enniskillen on Saturday but they took them on with the MJ14 4X+ coming out on top by half a canvass after a very tough semi final win as well. Other performances were very encouraging with narrow losses in a number of races. All bodes well for the rest of the season with Metro & Carlow the next outing for the lads.
18th May 2007
Neptune Golf Day
Amidst howling wind, lashing rain and lovely sunshine the Neptune Golf Day took place in typical 'four seasons' weather at Hollystown on Friday. A good turn out enjoyed some great golf in difficult conditions with PropertyNews.com coming out on top in the team event, Eugene Davy of the PropertyNews.com team taking the nearest the pin and Neptune's own Elaine Fitzgerald winning the longest drive - outshining all the gents on the 18th. Well done to all involved in organising and participating on the day.
13th May 2007
Ghent - Day Two
Day two saw another set of medals come back to Neptune from Mary & Sile who took the silver in the 2X and Claire & Elaine, against tougher competition today, win the bronze in the 2-. John along with St. Michael's in the MS2- made it two from two with another gold. Both Laura and Aidan made the finals of the 1X and 2X ( composite with Commercial ) where they were narrowly edged out of the medals. Well done to all who competed.
12th May 2007
Ghent - Day One
Mixed results from our squad in Belgium on day one. Some great performances against top international competition saw Claire and Elaine make the final of the W2- where they pulled out a great last 250m to row through Thames RC to claim a great silver. John Forde in the M2- composite with St. Michael's had a fantastic row to claim the gold. Others performed well on the day with Aidan in the M1X and Sile and Mary in the W2X just failing to make the final by one place overall.
5th May 2007
Limerick Regatta
Another small Neptune contingent attended Limerick Regatta in just the second full status regatta of the season. The day saw quite a few promising results from a number of crews but just two victories over all. Winners were Claire Magee and Elaine Fitzgerald in the WS 2- and the MJ18 4X+ took the gold with David, Jack, Stephen and Daniel in the engine room while Conor did the driving.
3rd May 2007
National Squad Announced
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Congratulations to Cathal ( pictured above ) who has been selected for the LM1X and the reserve for the LM4- for the forthcoming World Cup regattas. Also fantastic trial performances from Aodhan and Martin who are representing Neptune and Ireland at the World U23 Championships in the M4- boat.
Well done lads from everyone at Neptune !!!
28th April 2007
Trinity Regatta
Despite a relatively small Neptune entry at this year's regatta we still came away with FIVE great wins, all sculling. Top of the pile were Aidan Harwood, taking the MS 1X and MI 1X, and Ciaran Ward taking MJ16 1X and the MJ18 2X with the assistance of Andrew Hayden. The other win saw Paddy Moore and John Currivan win the MS 2X.
21st April 2007
Queen's Regatta
The first full-status regatta of 2007 saw some great six lane racing. Great wins AGAIN by Mary D in the WI 1X and along with Sile in the WI 2X and John Forde taking the MLW 1x and in composite with St. Michael's for the MS 2-. Many other participants did well in getting to the finals but came up short on the day. It's only the second weekend of the regatta season and there is lots of time for everyone to hit their season high.
Congratulations again to all out athletes and especially Mary, Sile and John.
14th April 2007
Neptune Regatta
A fantastic day from the very start, sun beating down and crowds of thirsty spectators and athletes looked on at the 167 races that passed before them from the early hours to late into the evening. Some good races, some bad, some ugly but the Green & Black Attack came away with six titles for our days work. Spuddy's young charges did us all proud with the MJ14 2X coming home in some style. Mary D kept up the impressive record with a win in the WI 1X ( pity about her time keeping on Sunday ). Roisin looked in charge all the way for her WJ18 1X victory and it was up to the lads to finish off a good day for the club with Dan Walsh ( MN 1X ) and John Currivan ( MI 1X ), recovering from illness, crossing the line first to take the gold.
Neptune also won the Pimm's Cup for the most successful overall club.
Please note - Commercial Regatta was on 15th April 2007 and we had wins at MJ14 4X+ MJ14 2X and MN 1X ( Dan ) - well done lads
17th March 2007
Tribesmen Head of the River
A miserable day, a short course, chaos at the start in all three heads but we came away with a few wins. Congrats to Mary Donovan for her win in the WI1X and to the ladies of the WS4X who took home fastest times of the day. Also there was a win for John Forde who won the MS2- in a composite boat with St. Mick's.
7th March 2007
First Episode of 'Light Paddle'
Neptune's newsletter is released
10th February 2007
Neptune Head of the River
Blessington saw the best of Irish rowing on a good day for racing. With almost 200 competing boats it was another success for the club with six titles by the end of the day. Congratulations to all the winners and especially the organising committee for another expertly run head.
Winner details under Roll of Honour tab.
3rd February 2007
Dublin Head of the River
A frosty morning turned out to be the perfect start to a great day of racing on the Liffey.
Also see Pictures section for photos and video