Coach hails their dedication

Seamus told Times Sport the eight targeted the Irish Championships following their second place finish in the event last July.

"The lads finished second last year and since then they have remained undefeated," he said.

"We set our during the winter training and thankfully we achieved them last weekend.

"It's taken a lot of hard work and commitment, the lads have been training up to 14 hours a week which is a lot to juggle along with school work and their social life.

"But they showed the discipline and the dedication to achieve what is the biggest prize in club rowing.

"This is still a young crew with five guys still able to compete again next year. Our strokeman Joel Cassells only turned 16 two weeks ago, so to achieve this at such a young age is a massive achievement.

"It also shows the younger rowers in the club what can be achieved if they are willing to work hard and make sacrifices."

Rowing is booming in the town at the moment, helped largely by the success on the world stage by the likes of Alan Campbell and Richard Chambers to name but two. And Seamus hopes that Bann can build on this latest success.

"We have to keep the momentum going as success breeds success," he said.

"The success of the likes of our Olympic rowers has helped raise the profile of the sport and we have tapped in to that.

"The young lads involved in the eight are showing the same sort of potential as the Campbell's, Chamber's and Fenney's showed before them.

"The club is going from strength to strength. We have a very strong committee with a lot of non-rowing people involved, which is great to see.

"The club have also recently managed to secured a major sponsorship from Cookstown which enabled us to buy a new boat and blades which we used in Cork.

"That was a major commitment but it has helped us move on to the next level. I can't thank the committee enough for this as they have handled all the financial and administrative work and let us concentrate on the rowing. They put their faith in us and thankfully we delivered.

"As I said the club is buzzing at the moment. I've been involved with the club for over 30 years now and it is getting stronger year on year.

"We have fantastic coaches at every level and some very promising young rowers.

"As a coach you have your ups and downs but when you are involved in something like what we achieved in Cork it makes it all worthwhile. This is the ultimate!"

STORY: Steven Crawford