Promise of summer keeping rowers going | Mark Stanton
6am - Alarm goes off. It’s a cold February morning as all over Cork, UCC rowers climb out of bed for another hard session. The alarm is set for this time four mornings a week and with a further four evening sessions one has to wonder why they do it?It’s been a long hard winter of training for the squad. 90 has become 40 as many who tried one of the college’s most demanding sports conceded defeat. And who could blame them? Monday to Thursday you’re likely to find a member of the squad somewhere in the Mardyke and at the weekends they face gruelling battle paddles in their home on Iniscarra Lake. 20+ hours training a week and their main event isn’t until July? Madness!The winter was a tough one for all at the boat club. Injuries come and go. The muscles are constantly sore. For seniors the winter is about building an engine that will allow them to outlast Trinity and Queens come July. For Novices it’s about learning the basics, getting used to training and training to get useful!So why join this historic club? The fitness is obviously an aspect to it but many would be quite proud of themselves after a couple of hours at a leisurely pace on the bike a week, rather than getting roared at by a coach in the rain on a Saturday afternoon!The answer is simple... The love of rowing! Everyone in the club is passionate about the sport. It is a passion that gets them out of bed at 6am when roommates are getting in from nights out. A passion that sparks in certain people the moment they join the club in 1st year. A passion which gets them back up after failing in the gym and forces them to try again. A passion which sets them off on another 20km race against one another on a Sunday morning when the rest of us are recovering from hangovers. And it is a passion which will hopefully see this club win Gold for UCC come the summer.Last year saw the appointment of new development officer Ed Green of Mosely Boat Club, London. He has given the club a new lease of life that first saw them move out to the National Rowing Centre at Farran Wood and since has seen the club grow in numbers in the two years he has been in charge.For Ed, no target is out of reach for this budding squad as he eyes up National Championships, but also events further afield. It has been over ten years since UCC have competed at the Henley Royal Regatta, one of the biggest rowing events in the world.Back to the present however and UCC have already had some success this season. At the two events they entered so far they took home plenty of honours including four wins at the Muckross Head of the River last December.The Cork Head of the River will be the first event for the lads and ladies of the boat club in 2013. Meanwhile their first race looks to be a University Challenge set out by UL at O'Briensbridge on Saturday March 9th. After that racing season really begins with the Intervarsities, as well as races and heads in Galway, Dublin and possibly further afield with the UK Metropolitan Regatta a distinct possibility! This will all culminate in July with the National Championships and we hope to bring you some positive results from that in the first issue of next year’s Express!Another aim for all at UCC is to wear the green jersey and represent Ireland internationally. Rio 2016 is a target for a lot of rowers to aspire to, and some graduates of UCC are currently on course for this dream including Justin Ryan and Niall Kenny.Club member Gavin Sheehan is taking on a challenge of his own by attempting a new world record in The Islanders Challenge. Gav sets out to row around Britain in less than 26 days with a crew of four. There has only ever been three crews complete this journey, meaning more people climbed Everest yesterday than finished this challenge!The folks at UCC Rowing aren’t just about the training however. They also know how to have fun and raise a bit of money along the way! They are twinned with the Irish Heart Foundation which does great work both in Cork and on a national level. UCC Rowing Club will be hosting a table quiz in the Lee Rowing Club on the Marina on Saturday 23rd of Feb at 8pm and for those of you living under a rock they are also running the ‘What’s in the Box’ competition for a chance to win an iPad mini!If you are interested in getting involved email uccrowing@umail.ucc.ie.