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Displaying items by tag: Max Murphy

16th February 2018

Murphy Adds Gold in New Zealand

#Rowing: Max Murphy added a gold medal to the silver he had won in the men’s senior pair at the New Zealand Rowing Championships today. The UCD oarsman was part of the Waikato senior eight which were clear winners, beating a crew from their own club into second. Kevin Neville and Eamon Power of NUIG were in the Wellington crew which took bronze.

 In warm and calm conditions, Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan finished fourth in the Premier double sculls, an elite event won by Chris Harris and Robbie Manson.

New Zealand Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, Day Four (Irish interest)

Men

Eight – Senior

Final: 1 Waikato (3 M Murphy) 5:56.41; 3 Wellington (7: K Neville; 8 E Power) 6:00.28.  

Pair - Senior

Final: 2 Waikato (M Murphy, T Bedford) 6:59.41.

Sculling,

Double – Premier

Final: 4 Skibbereen (P O’Donovan, G O’Donovan) 6:38.66. Senior – B Final: 1 Wairau (2 K Neville) 6:46.04.

Single – Club

B Final: 5 Wairau (E Power) 8:11.15.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Max Murphy took a silver medal at the New Zealand Rowing Championships on Lake Karapiro. The UCD man teamed up with Thomas Bedford in the Waikato crew which took second in the men’s senior pairs behind Avon Rowing Club and ahead of another Waikato crew.

New Zealand Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, Day Four (Irish interest)

Men

Pair - Senior - A Final: 2 Waikato (M Murphy, T Bedford) 6:59.41.

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll were eliminated from the Premier Pair at the New Zealand Rowing Championships on Wednesday (local time). The world lightweight pairs champions knew they would have some tough races as they learnt their trade in the heavyweight ranks, and this was one. In a tight repechage, rowed into a headwind, the Skibbereen men lost out by 1.64 seconds a three-way battle for the crucial third and fourth places which guaranteed a slot in the final.  

 Max Murphy secured a place in the final of the men’s senior pair, as his Waikato crew finished second in a repechage, while Eamon Power won his repechage of the club single sculls to secure a place in the semi-finals.

New Zealand Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, Day One (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Pair – Premier - Repechage (Top Four to Final; rest eliminated): 5 Skibbereen (S O’Driscoll, M O’Donovan) 7:11.47.

Senior - Repechage (Top Three to Final): 2 Waikato (M Murphy, T Bedford) 7:33.13.  

Sculling, Single – Club – Repechage One (First Two to Semi-Final): 1 Wairau (E Power) 8:19.07.  

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan was the pick of the Irish internationals at the testing New Zealand Rowing Championships on Lake Karapiro on Tuesday. O’Donovan finished third in his heat of the Premier (openweight) single sculls – just .11 of a second behind the winner of the other heat, Mahe Drysdale, the Olympic champion. O'Donovan will get a second chance to make the final through the repechages.

 The pair of Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll took fourth in their heat, while a four with the three O’Donovans and O’Driscoll also conserved energy for Wednesday’s repechages. The double of Paul and Gary O’Donovan took part in a race for lanes and took fifth.

 It was another good day for UCD’s Max Murphy, who is competing for Waikato. He was part of the club’s senior four which won their heat and progressed directly to the final. In the pair, Murphy placed third in a heat.

 Kevin Neville of NUIG, competing for Wairau, qualified for the senior double semi-finals. Neville and Eamon Power, also of NUIG and rowing for Wairau, are set for repechages in the senior and club singles respectively.

New Zealand Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Four – Premier (First to Final; rest to repechage)– Heat Two: 4 Skibbereen (S O’Driscoll, M O’Donovan, P O’Donovan, G O’Donovan) 7:05.67.  

Senior (First to Final; rest to repechage) - Heat Two: 1 Waikato (3 M Murphy) 6:25.58.

Pair – Premier (First to Final; rest to repechage): Heat Two: Skibbereen (S O’Driscoll, M O’Donovan) 7:24.79.

Senior (First to Final; rest to repechage) – Heat Two: 3 Waikato (M Murphy, T Bedford) 7:11.58.

Sculling,

Double – Premier (All go to Final): 5 Skibbereen (P O’Donovan, G O’Donovan) 7:20.97.

Senior – (First Four to Semi-Finals: rest to Repechages) – Heat Three: 3 Wairau (2 K Neville) 6:50.56.

Single – Premier (First to A Final; rest to repechage) – Heat One: 4 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan) 7:45. 8. Heat Two: 3 Skibbereen (P O’Donovan) 7:20.17.

Senior (First to Final; rest to repechage) – Heat One: 3 Wairau (K Neville) 7:53.53.

Club – Heat One (First two to Semi-Final; rest to repechage) – Heat One: 3 Wairau (E Power) 8:00.75.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Paul and Gary O’Donovan finished sixth in the Premier Double Sculls Final at the North Island Club Championships on Lake Karapiro in New Zealand today. Earlier, Paul O’Donovan had finished sixth of eight in the Premier Single Sculls, while Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll had won the B Final of the Premier Pair.

 Max Murphy had a very satisifactory outing. The UCD man, who has been based in New Zealand, took the senior eight and four with Waikato.

North Island Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, New Zealand (Irish interest)

Men

Senior Eight – A Final:  1 Waikato (3: M Murphy) 6:19.55.

Senior Four – A Final: 1 Waikato (3 M Murphy) 6:15.01.

Premier PairB Final: 1 Skibbereen (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll)  6:43.34.

Senior Pair – A Final: 4 Waikato (M Murphy, T Bedford) 6:51.51.

Premier Double Sculls – Final: 6 Skibbereen (P O’Donovan, G O’Donovan) 6:50.76.

Premier Single – A Final: 1 R Manson 6:39.58; 6 Skibbereen (P O’Donovan) 6:54.63. B Final: 3 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan) 6:57.21.  

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan finished sixth of the eight competitors who reached the A Final of the Premier Single Sculls at the North Island Club Rowing Championships in New Zealand. Robbie Manson, the top heavyweight single sculler won. Gary O’Donovan took third place in the B Final.

 Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll won their B Final of the Premier Pair, taking ninth overall. Max Murphy, the former UCD captain, was part of the Waikato senior pair which finished fourth in their final.  

North Island Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, New Zealand (Irish interest)

Men

Premier Pair – B Final: 1 Skibbereen (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll)  6:43.34.  

Senior Pair – Final: 4 Waikato (M Murphy, T Bedford) 6:51.51.

Premier Single – A Final: 1 R Manson 6:39.58; 6 Skibbereen (P O’Donovan) 6:54.63. B Final: 3 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan) 6:57.21.  

 

Published in Rowing

Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll finished fourth in their Repechage at the North Island Rowing Championships in New Zealand and did not make the final of the Premier Pair. The two, rowing for the first time in competition as a heavyweight pair this season, were just under three seconds off the third place which would have taken them to the final on Lake Karapiro. Paul and Gary O’Donovan will also compete in a repechage on Sunday.

 UCD rower Max Murphy has been competiing and doing well. He rowed in Waikato club crews which won their heats of the senior fours and pairs. He is also set to compete for the club in the senior eight on Monday.    

North Island Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, New Zealand (Irish interest)

Men

Senior Four – Heat One: 1 Waikato (W Guest, T Bedford, M Murphy, J Ingham) 6:18.85.  

Premier Pair – Heat One (First to Final; rest to repechage): 4 Skibbereen (S O’Driscoll, M O’Donovan) 6:44.25. Repechage One (First Three to Final; rest eliminated): 4 Skibbereen (O’Driscoll, M O’Donovan) 6:41.12.  

Senior Pair – Heat One (First to Final): 1 Waikato (M Murphy, T Bedford) 6:50.16.

Premier Single Sculls – Heat One (Winner to Final; rest to Repechage): 6 Skibbereen (P O’Donovan) 7:25.42. Heat Two: 6 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan) 7:28.38.

Published in Rowing

Sharks in Irish waters

Irish waters are home to 71 species of shark, skates and rays, 58 of which have been studied in detail and listed on the Ireland Red List of Cartilaginous fish. Irish sharks range from small Sleeper sharks, Dogfish and Catsharks, to larger species like Frilled, Mackerel and Cow sharks, all the way to the second largest shark in the world, the Basking shark. 

Irish waters provide a refuge for an array of shark species. Tralee Bay, Co. Kerry provides a habitat for several rare and endangered sharks and their relatives, including the migratory tope shark, angel shark and undulate ray. This area is also the last European refuge for the extremely rare white skate. Through a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) project, Marine Institute scientists have been working with fishermen to assess the distribution, diversity, and monthly relative abundance of skates and rays in Tralee, Brandon and Dingle Bays.

“These areas off the southwest coast of Ireland are important internationally as they hold some of the last remaining refuges for angel shark and white skate,” said Dr Maurice Clarke of the Marine Institute. “This EMFF project has provided data confirming the critically endangered status of some species and provides up-to-date information for the development of fishery measures to eliminate by-catch.” 

Irish waters are also home to the Black Mouthed Catshark, Galeus melastomus, one of Ireland’s smallest shark species which can be found in the deep sea along the continental shelf. In 2018, Irish scientists discovered a very rare shark-nursery 200 nautical miles off the west coast by the Marine Institute’s ROV Holland 1 on a shelf sloping to 750 metres deep. 

There are two ways that sharks are born, either as live young or from egg casings. In the ‘case’ of Black Mouthed Catsharks, the nursery discovered in 2018, was notable by the abundance of egg casings or ‘mermaid’s purses’. Many sharks, rays and skate lay eggs, the cases of which often wash ashore. If you find an egg casing along the seashore, take a photo for Purse Search Ireland, a citizen science project focusing on monitoring the shark, ray and skate species around Ireland.

Another species also found by Irish scientists using the ROV Holland 1 in 2018 was a very rare type of dogfish, the Sail Fin Rough Shark, Oxynotus paradoxus. These sharks are named after their long fins which resemble the trailing sails of a boat, and live in the deep sea in waters up to 750m deep. Like all sharks, skates and rays, they have no bones. Their skeleton is composed of cartilage, much like what our noses and ears are made from! This material is much more flexible and lighter than bone which is perfect for these animals living without the weight of gravity.

Throughout history sharks have been portrayed as the monsters of the sea, a concept that science is continuously debunking. Basking sharks were named in 1765 as Cetorhinus maximus, roughly translated to the ‘big-nosed sea monster’. Basking sharks are filter feeders, often swimming with their mouths agape, they filter plankton from the water.

They are very slow moving and like to bask in the sun in shallow water and are often seen in Irish waters around Spring and early Summer. To help understand the migration of these animals to be better able to understand and conserve these species, the Irish Basking Shark Group have tagged and mapped their travels.

Remarkably, many sharks like the Angel Shark, Squatina squatina have the ability to sense electricity. They do this via small pores in their skin called the ‘Ampullae of Lorenzini’ which are able to detect the tiny electrical impulses of a fish breathing, moving or even its heartbeat from distances of over a kilometre! Angel sharks, often referred to as Monkfish have a distinctively angelic shape, with flattened, large fins appearing like the wings of an angel. They live on the seafloor in the coastal waters of Ireland and much like a cat are nocturnal, primarily active at night.

The intricate complexity of shark adaptations is particularly noticeable in the texture of their skin. Composed of miniscule, perfectly shaped overlapping scales, the skin of shark provides them with protection. Often shark scales have been compared to teeth due to their hard enamel structure. They are strong, but also due to their intricate shape, these scales reduce drag and allow water to glide past them so that the shark can swim more effortlessly and silently. This natural flawless design has been used as inspiration for new neoprene fabric designs to help swimmers glide through the water. Although all sharks have this feature, the Leafscale Gulper Shark, Centrophorus squamosus, found in Ireland are specifically named due to the ornate leaf-shape of their scales.