Local Skiff crews win some of the silver at Skiffieworlds
County Down Coastal Rowing clubs have brought home medals galore from the week-long Skiffieworlds competition in Holland.
The international event at Kortgene in the Netherlands attracted 54 teams from Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, the UK and the USA.
Several of County Down’s towns and villages took part including Ardglass, Dundrum, Killyleagh, Sketrick and Strangford.
The overall winner of the competition – for the third successive year – was Dundrum. Other local clubs scored highly overall with Sketrick coming 2nd and Strangford placing joint 5th with Scotland’s Ullapool and Eastern.
Strangford’s club Chair Natalie Reilly said: “I am so proud of what our club has achieved. We won Silver in the Open Women race, Bronze in the 60+ Women event and on the final day our juniors won 15, yes 15, medals!”.
Strangford juniors, aged from 12 to 16, won Silver in the Under-17 Mixed race and Bronze in the Under-17 Boys event. Young rower Cathal Quinn (aged 15), who won both a Silver and Bronze medal, said: “Going to the Netherlands with the whole Strangford team was just brilliant. It makes all those training sessions worth it!”
The competition may have been fierce but local clubs also collaborated to put teams forward too. This tactic clearly paid off with Patrick McGurnaghan (Strangford) winning Gold in the Under-40 Mens event by combining with rowers from Killyleagh and Sketrick.
Some of the Strangford juniors also combined with Killyleagh teams to pick up Bronze in the Under-19 Mixed race.
Strangford’s team also included the youngest competition cox in the whole competition. Sally Reilly, aged just 16, proved her coxing credentials by leading several teams to medal wins.
Sally said: “I’m delighted to win some medals of course but rowing is about so much more. I love getting out on the water every weekend and it’s a great way to make friends as well as keep fit.”
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Strangford Wins Silver in Open Women event: (left to right) Pauline Hunter, Val McGouran, Tom Murphy (cox), Jennifer Moore, Carol Cummings
