Canoe Club wins big at Galway Fest

UCC Canoe Club enjoyed a wealth of success at the Galway fest this month, with the college claiming multiple honours at the event.The festival opened up with a 6 minute sprint down a pristine section of white-water which flows directly into the crystal clear Galway Bay in Gaeltacht area of Spiddal, Co. Galway which set a peaceful tone for the club as they embarked into the water.The weekend opened up with Seán and Kevin Cahill entering the men’s expert class wasted no time in getting a practice lap of the river to familiarise themselves with the river and “dial in” their skills for the race run to come. Next came the team race, which saw some of UCC grappling against the rapids to be the fastest there. Team Lulu with Kevin Cahill took the win despite the start line skipping rope interference.Day 2 began in Tuam for the college where everyone competed in freestyle, while the college was also forced to tackle high volume rapids on the Corrib in a mass start slalom race.Next up was the Boater X with Aisling Brennan leading the way who piloted the root well including navigating a 6 foot drop into the main channel.Some of UCC’s biggest victories came from James Hayes who finished in 2nd in Men’s Sport and Ciaran finished in 3rd with Fia Coghlan who placing 3rd in overall and Ciara McGarrigle who finishing in second place.