The 80-strong Dundrum Coastal Rowing Club are still on a crest of a wave after scooping a major gong in winning the Skiffie Worlds 2016 championship held on Strangford Lough at Delamount Country Park on Saturday after a hard week’s rowing.
Set up less than two years ago, the Dundrum rowers shocked the hardened competitors mostly from Scotland as they put their backs into the task with a extra determined vigour.
Robert Graham, one of the senior founder members, said: “We have simply exceeded our greatest expectations. As we prepared for Skiffie Worlds months ago we set out a two kilometre course from the White Bridge in the bay to a marker in the harbour and we got our teams to row to this and tighten them up to the task.
“We also examined the results from the last Skiffie Worlds held in Ullapool three years ago and we knew what the times were for each category. These were our targets. We rowed for months and were often at least a minute short and we thought it was going to be impossible to close the gap at one point. But we persisted.
“We took part in 21 races altogether in different categories and our best eight results saw us beat North Berwick who were fancied to win by just one point. It was very close. We managed to get through the heats to the finals and we realised we were in with a chance of some of the silver.
“But it was our aim in the beginning just to be the best local team and that spurred us on.”
On Monday the Dundrum team lifted two gold medals, a silver and a bronze. On Tuesday they won a silver and a bronze, and on Wednesday after a bit of fine tuning, they won two gold medals and a silver. At this point their tails were up! On Thursday they had two golds, a silver and a bronze, and Robert Graham added: “At this point is got really exciting as we knew we were in with a great chance.
“On the Friday we had no successes, and North Berwick were about just five points behind us. And Eastern were also finishing strongly in the competition. But we made it by just one point in the end. It was just unbelievable.”
The Dundrum rowers fielded 67 rowers at Skiffie Worlds in the different categories. Their ethos is very community focused and from the building of their first skiff their team world and cooperation was excellent. They were all complete novices but wanted to take part in the social rowing which ultimately became competitive for some as Skiffie Worlds 2016 drew closer.
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Robert added: “We put forward an excellent range of teams from our under-17’s to the over 60’s. We have a lot of female rowers, probably around over 50% are ladies. For some reason the rowing seems to appeal to them. And last but certainly not least, one of our teams had the fastest time in rowing the two kilometre course which was a huge achievement against a very experienced range of clubs. Our time was 11 minutes and 49 seconds and I was coxswain on that run.
“All our members started at the same level and we like to try and find a place for everyone. Crews do have to be balanced out to get the best performance from the skiff as some rowers are stronger than others.”
Clara Gelston rowed in the under-19 section and said: “It was brilliant fun. I rowed in two events and in the heats. It was tough but I won a silver medal. The training put us in good stead though. We trained on rowing at the two kilometre marker but on the day we only had to row to the one kilometre one which was easier for us.
“I would certainly like to keep up my interest in coastal rowing. I’m heading off to the University of Arts in London to study dress design and I hope to row over there.”
Barbara Graham took part in the over-60’s events at Skiffie Worlds and said: “Initially we all rowed in teams in the club and it was great craic. We all made lots of new friends and it was not too competitive at the beginning.
“The training soon kicked in at Skiffie Worlds. I actually felt much fitter because of the many weeks of training. It was really fun although the competitions in Skiffie Worlds were a bit daunting… but I did receive a silver medal which I am very proud of in the over-60-‘s category.”
The next Skiffie Worlds will take place in three years time in a venue yet to be decided. But Dundrum will certainly be looking forward to that event probably somewhere in Scotland where the recreational sport of coastal rowing has really taken off.
Check the full results at: www.scottishcoastalrowing.org
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