A NUMBER of Skibbereen rowers will compete at the European Rowing U23 Championships in Duisburg this Saturday and Sunday.
Lydia Heaphy, Aoife Casey and Emily Hegarty will all be action for Ireland, who send 20 athletes to the championships that have seen a record number of 650 competitors entered from 32 nations.
Skibb rower Lydia Heaphy, rowing for UCC, will partner Cliodhna Nolan in the lightweight women’s pair, Skibbereen rower Emily Hegarty teams up with Tara Hanlon in the women’s pair while Skibb’s Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen (UCC) combine in the women’s lightweight double scull.
Last year, Rowing Ireland enjoyed a lot of success at U23 and junior competitions. Tara Hanlon, Emily Hegarty, and Claire Feerick won a silver medal in the women’s four and Eoin Gaffney and Hugh Sutton won bronze in the lightweight men’s quad at the 2019 World Rowing U23 Championships in Sarasota. Aoife Casey and Cliodhna Nolan finished fourth in the A final, just missing out on the bronze.