The junior 18 doubles event at St. Michael’s Head of the River, County Clare, will be one of the hottest and most fiercely contested events of the day. It will consist of 12 clubs travelling the length and breadth of the country to take part and there is much speculation about which of these 12 clubs will come out on top. It will all be down to desire and spirit! Each of the 12 crews will be showcasing their different strengths and weaknesses at this race.
Cork Rowing Club A
Cork is often a club attributed with being a powerhouse of Irish rowing, and at St Michael’s Head of the River, I am expecting no different as Cork will be aiming to hold off their competitors further down the starting order to start the season off well. Within this young crew, Ahern will be keen to use his previous racing experience at the Cork Regatta 2023, racing junior 16 doubles, to bring a high level of maturity and speed to this race.
Muckross Rowing Club A
With both members of this crew having raced junior 18 events in 2023, most notably at the Irish Rowing Championships, this crew will certainly be coming into St Michael’s with a sense of confidence and excitement as they look to better last year’s results and set themselves up for a successful year ahead, proving to other clubs that they are a force to reckoned with this season.
Clonmel Rowing Club
Yet another crew with athletes experienced in this event, I expect this crew to put this experience to good use. Potentially a crew that was weaker in this event in the previous year, with some middle of the group finishes at Cork Regatta and at the Irish Rowing Championships, this crew will definitely feel that they have a point to prove, wanting to show that they will improve on previous seasons, bringing more success to the club.
Prediction
With St Michael’s Head of the River falling at the start of the season, it is very possible to see any of the crews mentioned above grab the race by the scruff of the neck and take the win, however due to the experience of the slightly older pairing, I am going to predict that Muckross Rowing Club with O’Connor and Hegarty will take the head at this iteration of the race.
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