An Cosantóir

| 21 www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE conscious that we were entering into the public domain as a public body and we now found ourselves pitted against the country's top clubs and rowers. Rowing Ireland guided us through the process, upholding strict compliance; the initial phase involved setting up of a committee, which included President, OIC, Club Captain, Treasurer, Club Secretary, Senior Coaches, as well as everything from Bank Accounts, Boats, Kit and Equipment. Members were just the start! The process was also extremely challenging in terms of administration, such as a club safety statement, club constitution, and risk assessments, setting up and briefing everyone of the Rowing Ireland Tracker system for drug testing purposes for our athletes while all the time in the background, myself, Martyn and Rob would organise and run weekly and daily water sessions at the National Rowing Centre. The process also required us to send coaches on Introduction to Coaching followed by the full Level 1 Coaching Course, and for our club secretary Petty Officer Kara Foley of the NS, it involved Kara undertaking a Child Protection Safety Officers Course. Of course we don't have any children within the club but it was another course we needed to have someone qualified in before Rowing Ireland would allow us into the list of affiliated rowing clubs within Ireland. However, in December 2023 having completed all the necessary courses and attained the laid down qualifications as demanded by Rowing Ireland, we were notified that we had been accepted as an official Rowing Ireland Club which was fantastic news for everyone connected with the club and really gave everyone within the club a sense of achievement. Rowing Ireland Head of Coaching and Education and Club Support Officers Gerry Farrell and Pat Kiely were really supportive and helpful of us during the period and the early days of setting up. Although an administration led journey, we could now finally look at the Rowing Ireland calendar and pick events and crews for regatta. Benefits of Affiliation Joining Rowing Ireland had many purposes; firstly in a bid to further to develop the sport, we needed to have our current athletes challenged and to be on par with civilian athletes in terms of racing, training, national and international competitions. This would mean our athletes would have a clear pathway and opportunities to complete this objective. It allowed us to push on in terms of a rationale for funding support from J7 where Comdt Brian Connolly, Lt Claire Murphy, CQMS Jacinta McEnery and Cpl John Agnew have been fantastic in helping us achieve this; but it was also the next logical step for us to prevent a plateau – we had members who joined and who wanted to represent the Defence Forces in Rowing, we just needed a roadmap and by joining Rowing Ireland this provided that opportunity. The next step forward for the club and its currently 32 members, some of which have represented Ireland at under age levels, and others have competed more recently at the world offshore rowing championships in Portugal competing against Olympians from other nations, is to push on further by rowing in weekly Rowing Ireland Regattas. This will allow us to further develop our rowing skill and technique – most of our rowers will actually tell that you having tried it, they didn't understand or appreciate how technical the sport actually is, sitting in a 27 foot carbon fiber tube that is 12 inches approx. in width and trying not to fall in and row with speed can be challenging on a calm summer evening, let alone a gusty choppy day. This is why we put so much focus in training on technique as opposed to strength. Of course, contrary to belief, rowing is all about pushing and not pulling, and as a gauge approx. 80-85% is legs, pushing the boat past the oar once you're connected with the water, so a lot of our training focuses on building and developing strong legs for the drive phase. These are some of the points we teach on our "Learn to Row Camp" and then moving forwards we develop the technique farther, where we really focus in with our athletes on what actually makes a boat move. New Equipment In December 2023, we took delivery of our new coxed Heavyweight Filipi Quad, this 4 person racing boat is on par with some of the country's top clubs. We are also expecting delivery of a new Filipi double (2 person Boat) in late July, again in an attempt to develop and push the club as far as we can within our constraints such as overseas, career courses and general day to day life for our members, These two boats will give our athletes every possible chance of competing and representing the Defence Forces Rowing club to the best of their ability, The Future of the DF Rowing Club Moving forward to current times, our club holds a strength of 32 members which has exceeded our initial hopes, these members are now currently in the midst of training where on average we have members rowing on the rowing machine doing over 100km weekly as well as bike sessions and weight specific exercises. Our event calendar for 2024 will see the club compete in 9 Rowing Ireland Regattas, run two training camps at the National Rowing Centre, and compete in the 1 and 2 km National Rowing Champs in June and July. We will also have our next Learn to Row Camp in the latter period of August, again run from Fermoy Rowing Club Want to join the DF Rowing Club? If you are interested in joining the Irish Defence Forces Rowing Club, please feel free to contact BQ Dave Williams ext 4335 or Rob Diffley on Ext 4234 or Dave.williams@defenceforces.ie or Robert.diffley@ defenceforces.ie BQ Dave Williams in Castleconnell Early morning rowing sessions Top: Winners Ocean to City L-R BQ Dave Williams, Pte Richard Hethrington, Pte Tomas Barry, CQMS Martin Underhill, Cpl John Tobin

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