Irish Offshore Rowing Championships taking place 10th & 11th September

After initially staving off stiff competition from Donegal to host the Championships, Wicklow and Arklow Rowing Clubs are delighted to be co-hosting The Swift Racing Irish Offshore Rowing Championships this weekend at Wicklow harbour. Wicklow Town will be awash with athletes, spectators and cheer squads from across the country as they welcome 34 clubs, 125 crews and 230 athletes to the town to participate. Spectators can enjoy superb views of the for all 9 categories which will be held on Saturday with the finals taking place across Sunday.

The nine categories being contended for at the championships are: Men’s singles, Men’s doubles, Men’s quad, Women’s singles, Women’s doubles, Women’s quad, under 18 Men’s quad, under 18 Women’s quad and mixed doubles.

Offshore / Coastal Rowing involves a fibreglass boat, similar to what can be seen at Olympic rowing events but with the added advantage that they are built for the sea and rough conditions pose no challenge to them. The boats are rowed over 4-6km, turning at buoys and vying for the premier course positioning in order to maintain momentum and speed at turns. Coastal Rowing has grown in popularity in recent years, so much so that there is a large crossover now with flat water rowers and a number of prominent Irish Olympians have now taken up the sport too.

With 2 years of planning since Wicklow was awarded the honour of hosting the championships and Arklow having hosted the inaugural Irish Offshore rowing Championships back in 2017, all indicators are poised for a fantastic weekend in Wicklow Town. With international interest from top athletes across Europe, you never know who you might meet!