Cork Head of the River 2025 – Men’s Open Eights Preview

After the unfortunate cancellations of Skibbereen and Shandon Head of the Rivers, racing will take place on the Marina for the first time this season. There are four crews entered in the men’s eights events, two each in Senior and Intermediate. With no senior men’s quad entered in this Head of the River, the odds are it will be one of these crews which takes home the Denis McSweeney Trophy for the fastest crew of the day.

Open Men’s Eights

Cork Boat Club

Cork Boat Club’s men’s senior eight had a fairytale end to their season last summer when they emerged as national champions at the 2024 edition of the Irish Rowing Championships, ending their decades long losing streak. With seven members of the winning crew returning, including stroke man Jonny Cuddy and Irish 2k record holder Fionnan Tolan, they will most definitely still have that same speed that brought them all the way to the win last year. Barry Connolly is the only new addition to the crew as he returns after a hiatus from rowing. With a number of Irish Rowing Championships under his belt, he will inevitably add more speed to this crew.

University College Cork

A less experienced crew are Cork’s competitors, in the form of University College Cork, however this boat is overflowing with experienced rowers.  John Kearney, three time medallist at the U23 World Rowing Championships, sits in the stroke seat with Ethan O’Neill, Adam Murphy and Andrew Sheehan, the latter pair also being U23 World Rowing Championships medallists, making up the rest of the stern four. Rory Buckley and Jack Cotter, who sit in four and three seat respectively, have spent their whole careers thus far rowing together, having both started rowing at Presentation College Boat Club. 

Prediction

With such a high standard across the field, predicting the winner of this event is no easy task. However I do think Cork Boat Club’s experience in this boat class will see them clench the win on their home waters.

Intermediate Men’s Eights

Cork Boat Club (Intermediate)

This Cork Boat Club Intermediate eight were disappointed not to win the Denis McSweeney Trophy at last year’s Men’s Head of the River (the senior crew were racing at Erne Head of the River, which clashed last year), losing to local rivals University College Cork and Shandon Boat Club. They had some success later in the season, winning the intermediate eight at Skibbereen Regatta and the club eight at London Metropolitan Regatta. There are some strong additions to this crew, which should build on their better second half of the 2024 season. The stroke-man is one such addition, Yegor Kaar, who moved down to Cork after finishing his schooling in Colaiste Iognaid in Galway. Kaar narrowly came second in the junior eight last year and has clearly impressed the coaches in Cork Boat Club to earn his seat at the stern of the boat. Another notable addition to this crew is 2024 intermediate coxed four champion at the Irish Rowing Championships, Finn O’Sullivan, sitting in the five-seat. O’Sullivan is known for his tall frame, and this crew will be glad of this length in the engine room of the boat.

University College Cork (Intermediate)

University College Cork have had some recent changes with their coaching staff and have been unable to complete much quality on-the-water training lately. While their senior crew should be experienced enough not to slow them down too much, this Intermediate crew would have benefitted much more from some dedicated on-the-water training and coaching. Given the internal situation in the club, it is hard to expect this crew to be competitive in this field. An individual athlete to keep an eye on in this crew is Japanese exchange student Yukoh Yamada, who comes to University College Cork with plenty of experience winning domestic championships. This lightweight oarsman will be packing a punch in the middle of the boat, and aiding this developing crew to maximise their growing potential.

Prediction

Given the struggles on the water that UCC have faced recently as well as coaching changes, I expect that Cork should be able to come out on top in this event, but an upset is possible if UCC have managed to be productive with the training time they have had.

About The Author