Sligo rower Brian Colsh second in World Cup in Italy

Amongst those selected was Sligo man Brian Colsh. Colsh would race the men’s heavyweight single at only 21 years of age.

The World Rowing Cups are an annual series of three regattas that give athletes the chance to race in their respective boat classes to see how they measure up against other internationals. World Cup 1 took place in Varese Italy from April 12-14. Colsh is no stranger to the waters of Varese as Rowing Ireland regularly spend weeks on Lago di Varese on camp.

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Colsh also won his world U23 bronze medal in Varese in 2022.

Starting in 2015, Brian rowed for Sligo Rowing Club as a junior for 6 years under the watchful eye of dad and coach Tom Colsh. His international rowing career began in 2020 when he won silver in the men’s junior quad at the European Rowing Championships in Belgrade. Upon starting college at University of Galway in 2022, he began to juggle the high demands of a student athlete. After relocating to the national rowing centre in Cork, Colsh gained selection for U23 worlds where he won bronze, and the following year would go on to win gold in the men’s double.

The Irish squad flew to Italy early last week to get a few days paddling on Lago di Varese ahead of the first international regatta of the 2024 season.

As the temperatures began to reach a comfortable 25°C on Friday morning, the first crews of the regatta took to the water, including Ireland’s Brian Colsh. Colsh was drawn in lane 2 of heat 5 of the men’s single sculls, alongside two Italians and a Finish sculler. At the 1000 metre mark, Colsh was sitting four seconds behind Di Mauro of Italy (who was ranked 8th in the men’s single at the Tokyo Olympics) who was in second place and in true Irish style, started to put on a put on a push to make his way up the field. At the 1500 metre mark, Colsh had reduced the gap to two seconds, and summoned one push for the line. ‘The Irish fireworks’, as described by commentator Martin Cross, were well and truly on display but the line came too soon, with Colsh finishing less than one second behind Di Mauro.

However, this qualified Brian for the quarterfinal later that day.

Due to the large number of 30 men’s single scullers entered, quarter finals took place Friday evening. After only four hours rest, Colsh was back on the stakeboats, this time in lane 2 next to Struzina of Switzerland (current world champion in the lightweight single), and Zeidler of Germany (current world champion in the heavyweight single). All six boats were in a line for the first 500, but soon after the pack began to separate. After a tough morning in the heats, Colsh struggled to find his mid race rhythm, and finished in fifth place, forcing him to contest the C final the next morning.

Saturday morning saw temperatures rise slightly and a tailwind sweep across the course, resulting in difficult conditions for the single scull. Colsh is no stranger to difficult conditions as the national rowing centre is known to provide challenging rowing conditions, so it was business as usual. As Colsh pulled away from the stakeboats one last time, the gym back at home in Sligo Rowing Club was packed full of Sligo athletes watching on as Brian set the standard for rowing in Sligo. With 1000 metres to go Colsh found himself dead level with Elbanna of Egypt in third place, but in true Irish style, Colsh began to track his way up the field, finishing in a very respectable second place, one second off Di Mauro of Italy.

This places Brian 14th in the World Cup ranking, at only 21 years of age, after a weekend’s racing against world and Olympic champions.

After a few days at home this week, Colsh will return to Cork and resume training at the national rowing centre, with his sights set firmly on the U23 world championships later this summer.

Sligo RC would like to wish Brian continued success in his rowing journey.

Up-coming regattas

After two weeks of cancelled Irish regattas, due to weather, Sligo Rowing club will travel to O’Briens Bridge, Limerick this weekend for a weekends racing. Saturday will play host to Limerick regatta with Sunday playing host to Schools Regatta. This gives junior athletes the opportunity to represent their schools. With the weather forecast, showing perfect rowing conditions, a good weekend’s racing is guaranteed. Keep an eye on Sligo Rowing Club social media for updates throughout the weekend.

Galway Head of the River

St. Patrick’s weekend saw five of Sligo’s junior and senior quads take to the River Corrib for Galway Head of the River. The four-kilometre head of the river was run in a time trial format, with crews being let off every 30 seconds.

Coxes attended the coxes meeting, which was held on the University of Galway campus, and were made aware of the challenging conditions and the best course to take to get their crew down the Corrib safely.

Head 1 commenced at 11am, with some fast but choppy conditions. The first Sligo boat to make their way down the course was the men’s junior 18 coxless quad of Finn Reid, Thomas Sheridan, Cathal Deery, and Daniel Sproule. This crew was a new combination but showed great promise as all four of these men train tirelessly at home on the Garvogue in Sligo.

To the delight of coaches Tom Colsh and Molua Donohoe, this quad placed a very respectable third place.

Next up was the women’s junior 16 quad of Emma Walsh, Emma Lineen, Sheena Clarke, and Lauren Dolan, with Sally McEnroe Rene in the cox’s seat. Sligo’s junior 16 women have built up a reputation for themselves over the last number of months and these women left the slip determined to let their opposition know they were ready for regatta season.

Sally McEnroe Rene kept her crew on their toes the whole way down the course all while steering an excellent course. The determination of these young girls shone through with the crew winning their category by over a minute.

Last up in head 1 was the women’s masters quad of Ger Duignan, Lisa Cronin, Sandra Deery, and Ailish Hackett with Aoibheann Taylor in the cox’s seat. Sligo’s master’s women have been coached by Ailish Hackett for the last three years. These women juggle both a full-time job and training five days a week both in the gym and on the water. This crew put in a performance to be proud of on the Corrib in challenging conditions and put their winter training to good use.

Head 2 saw water conditions improve, and the stage was set for the final 54 crews to race down the Corrib, including Sligo’s senior and junior 18 women.

The first of the Sligo crews to appear along the Menlo straight was the women’s senior coxless quad of Ella Clarke, Sarah Walsh, Katie McEnroe, and Caroline McGee. This newly formed crew was packed full of experience, power, and promise. When results were released later that evening, it was clear Sligo had won their category and grabbed fastest women’s quad of the day. This will be a crew to watch for regatta season.

The last of the Sligo crews to race down the Corrib was the women’s junior 18 coxless quad of Emma Walsh, Alannah Glacken, Marieke Spoorenberg, and Olivia McCann. Bow, Olivia McCann, was given the unenviable task of steering her crew down coxless, however this did not phase as she steered the perfect line into the finish. This crew showed experience as they flew down the course and put down a race to be proud of.

After Sligo RC packed their boats up after a long day’s racing, the women’s junior 16 quad and the women’s senior quad took a trip to the other side of the Corrib for prizegiving. They were presented their pennants by Siobhan McCrohan, world champion in the lightweight women’s single.

Blessing of the boats

At a special ceremony in Doorly Park recently, 5 new single sculls and a new safety launch formally welcomed Sligo Rowing Club’s fleet of boats.

These new boats will allow the boat club to expand and continue to enable more people to witness the beauty of the Garavogue and Lough Gill.

Only a few hours before the blessing, a new safety launch arrived at the boat club. This was purchased by the club to facilitate safety on the water for all athletes including the increasingly popular leisure rowing.

Two new club single sculls were welcomed into the family including the Clifford Electrical and Joan. These Kanghua racing shells were bought to facilitate the growing popularity of the single scull amongst junior rowers. Being one of the most difficult boats to row, the single scull gives athletes the opportunity to develop their technique and fine tune their rowing.

A number of club members, who have their own personal boats, also had their boats blessed on the day including the Mary Philbin, Annie Mai, and Bees Wings. These top-class racing boats will no doubt see some fast racing this upcoming regatta season.

Special thanks to Rev Patrick and Cannon Tom for making the trip down to the boat club and for their continued support over the years.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 18th April 2024