Although she was paddling in the junior class, Aoibhín Ní Broin of Galway Canoe Club was the fastest woman home in the elite K1 class at the 60th Liffey Descent canoe marathon on Saturday (September 14). In July, Ní Bhroin competed at the World Junior and U23 Wildwater Canoe Championships in Banja Luka, Bosnia, Herzegovina. She took 2 hours 39 minutes 23 seconds to complete their 32km journey which took in ten weirs, a series of rapids, a portage at Leixlip lake and the treacherous stretch of undergrowth known as “The Jungle”. Also in action was a large group of 18 from Meelick-Eyrecourt Canoe Club (pictured), with ten in the men’s K1 class C alone. The club, founded in 2016 and based on the Galway/Longford border, will hold its own Paddle Fest on October 27th.
K1 – Senior Men: 1 Peter Egan (Salmon Leap) 1:57.43, 2 Donnacha Brennan (Thomastown CC) 2:00.22, 3 Odhran McNally (Salmon Leap CC) 2:01.33.
Senior Women: 1 Margaret Farrell (Canoeing Ireland) 2:56.23, 2 Sara Griffin (UCD CC) 3:10.46, 3 Amy Walsh (West Cork KC) 3:21.38.
Junior Women: 1 Aoibhin Ni Broin (Galway CC) 2:39.23
