KEALAN Mannix has been making a splash both at home and abroad in recent times.
The talented rower made waves when, representing Rosscarbery Rowing Club, he won gold in the men’s single at the Irish Offshore Rowing Championships in Bantry in early September.
In the weeks that followed, the UL student, representing Ireland and Rosscarbery Rowing Club, competed at both the 2021 World Coastal Beach Sprints and the World Rowing Coastal Championships held in Portugal.
The second-ever World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, held in late September, were held over three days with a time trial and elimination round run to reduce the numbers for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals. Kealan, in the single men’s race, was up against 25 other competitors including experienced beach sprint athletes and Olympic medallists from many different countries. After an outstanding performance in the time trials the West Cork rower progressed to the elimination round where he faced tough competition from the USA and just fell short of reaching the quarter-finals.
Only a few days later Kealan, who has also impressed in river rowing with Skibbereen Rowing Club and UL, donned the purple to represent Rosscarbery Rowing Club in the World Rowing Coastal Championships held in early October. Again, he competed in the men’s single offshore race at the event with his first race seeing him take a fantastic fourth place in his heat with a time of 23.32 and securing a place in the A final. He was one of 14 Irish members to make an A final after the successful heat. The third and last day of the event saw Kealan compete in the A final of the men’s single offshore rowing at the world championships. He took on the six-kilometre course in choppy waters and high winds at Praia da Torre, Oeiras, Portugal where he came an impressive tenth place with a time of 29.17.
