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Displaying items by tag: O'Connor

#Rowing: Eoghan O’Connor of Castleconnell came agonisingly close to a remarkable feat at the Irish Provinces Indoor Rowing Championships at the University of Limerick today. The Castleconnell man missed setting a time of six minutes for the 2,000 metres by just one tenth of a second. Cathal Cummins of Lee Valley set a fine time of six minutes 30.5 seconds in the under-18 grade.

Jess O’Keeffe of University of Limerick won the women’s open grade in 7:20.1, but Margaret Cremen of Lee was the fastest woman, with an excellent time of 7:15.2.

Irish Provinces Indoor Rowing Championships, University of Limerick

Men

Open: E O’Connor 6:00.1. Lightweight Open: D O’Connor 6:30.5. Under-23: G Patterson 6:18.9. Lightweight Under-23: B McKeon 6:42.9. Jun 18: C Cummins 6:20.5. Jun 16: R Tummon 6:31.8. 30-39: R Corcoran 6:30.8.

Women

Open: J O’Keeffe 7:20.1. Under-23: H O’Sullivan 7:21.8. Lightweight Under-23: E McGiff 7:43.3. Jun 18: M Cremen 7:15.2. Jun 16: C Kirwan 7:27.9. 30-39: M Tritt 7:40.3.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland’s under-23 lightweight quadruple joined the under-23 lightweight pair at the A Final stage of the Under-23 World Championships in Rotterdam. The crew of Fintan McCarthy, Shane O’Connell, Stephen O’Connor and stroke Colm Hennessy finished second to Britain in a fine semi-final. Ireland and Sweden held the qualifying places behind Britain for a good part of the course, but New Zealand mounted an attack in the final third. Ireland upped their rate and held out for second, with Sweden also moving into the A Final.  

 The under-23 heavyweight quadruple finished fifth in their semi-final. The race was won by Australia, with New Zealand and Britain booking their A Final places by taking second and third. Ireland fought with Ukraine to avoid last and held out at the end to win this battle.

World Rowing Championships, Rotterdam (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Under-23 Lightweight Pair - Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) - Semi-Final One: 1 Greece 6:39.18, 2 Switzerland 6:40.01, 3 China 6:44.52. Semi-Final Two: 1 Ireland (S Mulvaney, D O’Malley) 6:46.20, 2 Turkey 6:49.11, 3 United States 6:50.75.

Under-23 Quadruple - Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) - Semi-Final One: 1 Poland 5:51.05, 2 Italy 5:52.38, 3 Germany 5:52.53. Semi-Final Two: 1 Australia 5:54.34, 2 New Zealand 5:56.53, 3  Britain 5:56.93; 5 Ireland (D Buckley, J Casey, P Boomer, S McKeown) 6:12.94.

Under-23 Lightweight Quadruple - Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) - Semi-Final One: 1 Italy 6:07.44, 2 Canada 6:09.42, 3 Germany 6:10.05. Semi-Final Two: 1 Britain 6:06.01, 2 Ireland (F McCarthy, S O'Connell, S O'Connor, C Hennessy) 6:07.18, 3 Sweden 6:07.28.

Published in Rowing

About Commander Bill King, Solo Circumnavigator

William Donald Aelian King was the last surviving submarine commander in the Second World War - in charge of the British Navy's T-class Telemachus that sank a Japanese sub in the Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Sumatra, in 1944.

Decorated many times for his service by the end of the war, King became a trailblazing solo sailor.

At the age of 58, he was the oldest participant in The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race sailing Galway Blazer II, a junk-rigged schooner he designed himself.

After a number of abortive attempts, including an incident with "a large sea creature", he finally completed his solo circumnavigation of the globe in 1973.

Beyond his aquatic escapades, King settled with his wife Anita (who died in 1984, aged 70) at Oranmore Castle outside Galway after the war, where he later developed a pioneering organic farm and garden to help tackle his wife's asthma.

The round-the-world sailor and Galway native Bill King died on Friday, 21 September, 2012, aged 102.