Race organisers pay tribute to McGowan's tenacity

ROWING:"IN THE world of ocean rowing, rarely has there been such sheer determination, tenacity and resolve to continue and succeed against all the odds . . . (This was an) historic first."

Of all the tributes paid to Seán McGowan, Ireland’s first solo ocean rower – the President of Ireland Mary McAleese was amongst those passing on her praise – this encomium by race organisers, Woodvale, stands out. The team behind a race which has seen hundreds of rowers through a huge challenge do not readily spray around this kind of accolade. So was the Limerickman relaxing in the glory and revelling in the praise in lovely Antigua this week? Not really.

“I don’t think the journey is finished yet, and I don’t think it will be till I get home and meet Lorraine and the kids,” he said. “I’m not at sea anymore and I’m in a comfortable hotel room, but I still feel the journey is ongoing.”

That journey finishes today at Shannon airport. McGowan’s flight from Gatwick is due at 1.30pm and he will first meet his wife and four children in private and is due to greet well-wishers afterwards.

Pulling a boat across nearly 3,000 miles (4,700 kilometres) has left its mark: six fingers, three on both hands, have still not returned to full use; he got his first five-hour sleep only two nights ago; he has lost more than a quarter of his body mass (his weight fell from 94 kgs to 66 kgs).

His fervent compensation for his long deprivation has had its good side – and drawn some funny reactions. “Everything tastes so, so good, food I wouldn’t have eaten before. Everything is fabulous. But what is funny is that I’m wobbling around quite a bit (he still has not found his land legs).”

The generosity of those in the Caribbean has extended to his charity, Soweto Connection: Digicel donated €1,180 to the cause. Personally, McGowan is hoping an individual or firm will come in to help with the considerable cost of shipping Tess, his boat, back to Ireland. Tess finished 24th of the 30 starters, as six of those were disqualified for breaking race rules. For the first time in over a decade of this race, all the starters did get across the ocean.

What’s next for McGowan? He hopes to write a book about his experiences, and he is looking forward to meeting up with fellow Irish ocean rowers to swap stories. But the need to earn money to cover the mortgage will be the biggest concern. He wants to do this, but to help others as well.

This weekend’s KRSG regatta in Ghent in Belgium has a smaller Irish entry than in recent years, especially at senior level, which may be an indicator of Irish crews finding greater competition in the Grand League series at home. However, St Joseph’s have entered 42 crews, and of the entire entry of seven junior eights tomorrow, three are from the Galway school.

Last weekend was an excellent one for Irish crews abroad. Queen’s took the big one, the Championship Eights, at the British University Championships in Nottingham, and finished Monday’s action with another estimable title in the Championship quadruple. They added five other titles, and a silver and a bronze medal.

In adaptive rowing, the Ireland mixed coxed four took silver on both Saturday and Sunday at the Gavirate International Regatta near Varese in Italy, while at Wallingford Regatta at Eton, Monika Dukarska of Killorglin won the elite and intermediate single sculls and a Muckross crew were second in the senior eight.