St Josephs College Rowing Club

St. Josephs College Rowing Club, more commonly referred to as 'The Bish', is located opposite Woodquay pier on the River Corrib in Galway, Ireland. Its membership is closed to pupils of the all-boys secondary school which is situated nearby in Nuns Island. The Club caters to students from J15 level up to the highest Junior level in Ireland, Junior 18A. St. Josephs has a proud history and is one of the most successful junior clubs in Ireland. The Bish almost exclusively competes in Sweep rowing events, although the recent purchase of single sculls has led to renewed participation in this field as well.

Early history

The first appearance of St Josephs College Rowing Club came in 1932 where they competed in the Schoolboy Fours event against St. Patricks. A compelling rivalry with another Galway school club, Colaiste Iognaid (The Jes), was quickly formed and this tense rivalry continues today. 1936 saw the first meeting of the two clubs in an Irish Championship and it was the Jes who emerged victorious, winning by 3 lengths. The Anderson Trophy for Junior Eights raced at Galway Regatta has produced some fantastic racing between the two clubs over the years.
The Bish acquired its own clubhouse in 1955, with the old Emmets club donating their existing premises to be used by the developing school club.
The Junior category was not offered at Irish Championship level until 1964 and The Bish enjoyed some notable success in the early stages of this new rowing level. The club completed a remarkable 3 in a row in the Junior 8 event in 1969, 1970 and 1971 and these wins were also accompanied by success in the Junior 4 event in 1970 and 1971.
Another golden period for the club came in 1982-1985 where the club again dominated the Junior 8 category by becoming champions in each of the 4 years. Another Junior 4 championship was acquired in 1987.

Modern times 1992-1999

A talented young crew captured a coveted double of Junior 8's and 4's in 1992, with the Junior 8 event producing a fantastic racing spectacle. Bish battled with Limerick BC throughout the 2000m Blessington course to emerge victorious by a canvas. The Junior 4's was a less exciting affair with a strong Bish crew easily dispatching of St. Michaels in the final.
In 1994, Tim Higgins and Sean McDonagh once again teamed up to develop a potential championship winning crew. The crew was selected from both the U17 and U16 crews and a single Leaving Cert student. At this time, the competition was a strong Tribesmen crew that was composed of almost all Irish representatives from the previous year. Through excellent guidance in rowing technique, the Bish crew began to increase boat speed dramatically. Two weeks before the championships, the Bish crew came up against Tribesmen in the Anderson Cup final (J18 8+) at Galway Regatta. An explosive start by the Bish earned them a length lead over the initial 500m. However due to recent individual crew illnesses, the course began to tell and Tribesmen overhauled the Bish prior to the finish line. This however showed the potential of the crew. The Championship final this year proved to be both aunique and exciting one resulting in a re-row and a disqualification. The heat winners were both Tribesmen who had improved on their first 500m speed over the previous two weeks and Methodist College, Belfast (MCB). In the final their lanes were separated by the young Bish crew. Over the first 1000m however, MCB with a strong lead repeatedly crossed into the Bish lane and after multiple warnings the umpire stopped the race and disqualified MCB. The race was rowed again from ~1000m out and Tribesmen were the winners.
With all of the members of this crew returning the following year bar one, there was great optimism for the new season. The eights crew in fact remained unbeaten that season resulting in winning the championship Junior 8 title. However, most people will remember the 1995 championships for the enthralling Junior 4 event where excellent crews from Portora and Bish produced a race of the highest quality and excitement. The crews could not be separated over the 1400m distance and a dead heat was adjudged with some controversy; the first ever to be declared in Junior 18 championship racing. A re-row was ordered and this time Portora secured the title, winning by clear water. Although understandably devastated by the loss, it is testament to the character of the oarsmen that they were able to recuperate and win the Junior 8 event the following day.

1996 saw victory for the club in a previously unsuccessful field, the men's Junior 2-. The combination of Mark Wilson and Timothy Lohan proved an exceptionally strong one and they delivered the club's first championship in this category. They went on to be selected to row for Ireland at the Coupe de la Jeunesse championships winning a number of gold medals against strong opposition.
The strong JM 8+ crew were outdone by the teaming together of the Fossa and Muckross JM 4+'s that had competed all season against one another. Although no composite crews are allowed in the Junior competitions, the Fossa oarsmen registered with the Muckross club and this ultimately led to the downfall of the Bish crew who competed strongly and were defeated by a length at the finish line. From this crew Gordon Joyce and Robert O'Connell were selected for Ireland at the Home International Quadrangular held in Strathclyde alongside coxswain Kevin Hayes. They were part of the winning Irish JM 8+ crew that helped Ireland capture the overall JM trophy.

21st century success

The Club would continue its proud legacy in the early stages of the new century. 2000 saw the purchase of a new Empacher 8, signalling the intent of the club members to continue to compete at the highest level. The following year proved to be a highly eventful campaign for the club. A thrilling race at Enniskillen Regatta in 2001 saw St Josephs narrowly defeated by the heavily fancied Neptune Rowing Club Junior 8 crew. The Anderson Cup at Galway Regatta that year also proved to be a memorable affair. The Bish went into the final against The Jes as strong favourites but were beaten by an extremely motivated Colaiste Iognaid crew by a distance of 1 length. The Bish crew then went into intense training ahead of the National Championships in Iniscara and this paid dividends when they caused an upset by winning the Junior 4 event ahead of the fancied Neptune crew. However, the crew were left disappointed when they were beaten by Neptune in the blue ribband Junior 8 event the following day. Of The Bish Junior 8 Weston Harding and Paul Giblin were chosen to represent Ireland at the Coupe de la Jeunesse held in France and Eddie McGuire, Phillip Cahill, Donnachadh Glynn and Philip O Connell were chosen to represent Ireland at the Home Internationals in Nottingham, England. Competition was fierce in France at "The Coupe" and France took the Gold. Meanwhile in Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham Ireland were tied in First with England on points at the end of the competition and the Gold was given to England having won the Junior 8s event. Bish oarsmen were on crews which won gold in the 4+, 4- and silver in the 8's.

A young crew emerged in 2002 coached by Peter Heaney to challenge for the coveted Junior 8 title. They achieved notable success in Ghent regatta where they won the Junior 8 section ahead of a strong German crew, Frankfurter RS Germania. This win was even more impressive when one observes that 6 of the members of the squad were still eligible to compete at Junior 16 level. Unfortunately the squad would experience intense disappointment at the National Championships where they lost a thrilling Junior 8 race to Neptune by a distance of three feet. The potential of this crew however was there for all to see and the Bish would once more enter a golden period which would see them dominate the Junior Sweep categories over the next 3 years.

In 2003 the crew was again coached by Peter Heaney with help from Eamon Hegarty and Christy Griffin. The Junior 18 squad travelled to the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta where they competed in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. The crew were unlucky however, to be drawn against a seeded American crew, Belmont Hill School. The Bish were eliminated in the first round after losing by a length and a half. The squad remained confident of success in the national Irish Championships however, and this confidence was justified as they secured the Junior 4+ and 8+ titles easily. The crew showed strength, claiming both 1st and 2nd place in the 4+ and 1st and 3rd in the 8+.

2004 saw a change in the senior coach with Mike Heskin taking over the reins. This was another season of dominance by the Galway club, once again completing the double of Junior 8 and 4 at the National Championships. Club members Ronan Sweeney and Padraig Hawkins would also achieve notable success with the Irish national squad by winning the coxed 4s event at the Coupe de la Jeunesse held in Ravenna, Italy.

In 2005 the club finally completed the clean sweep of Junior events at the National Championships when they won the Junior,2-,4+ and 8+. The Bish crew faced St. Michaels R.C. of Limerick in all three events. The Junior 4+ race was an extremely tight race with the lead changing hands twice in the last 250m before Bish strokeman Vincent Ruane sealed victory for his crew with a final sprint before the line. Another club first was achieved when two St Josephs oarsmen were chosen to represent Ireland at the Junior World Rowing Championships in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany. The pair consisted of oarsmen Matty Carroll and Vincent Ruane. They finished 10th out of a field of 18 in the coxless pairs category.

Future prospects

A massive investment in new equipment by the club in 2003 showed The Bish's intention to remain at the forefront of Junior Men's rowing in Ireland. A strong network of Alumni and parents allows for the effective training of new oarsmen every year with the goal of developing them to compete at the highest levels in Junior 18 standard and beyond. Many Bish oarsmen have gone on to achieve success with the national squad in subsequent years including Neville Maxwell (competed at 1996 Atlanta Olympics) and Alan Martin (current member of Irish Hwt 4- squad).

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