Kerry's Sean Morris has been chosen to represent Ireland next week at the World Championships.
The Tralee club member will row in the Men's Under 19 Quad at the event which runs from August 18th to 25th, at St. Catharines, Canada.
The venue will host the world's best rowers across Senior, U23, and U19 categories on a challenging 2000 metres course.
Two time Olympic Gold Medal winner Paul O’ Donovan will also be part of this Irish squad.
Tralee Rowing Club press release:
One of our athletes has been chosen to represent Ireland next week at the World Rowing Championships in Canada. Sean Morris will row in the Men's Under 19 Quad running from August 18-25, at St. Catharines, Canada, who will host the world's best rowers across Senior, U23, and U19 categories on a challenging 2000m course. Two time Olympic Gold Medal winner Paul O’ Donovan will also be part of this Irish squad as he competes in the lightweight men’s single.
Tralee Rowing Club are delighted to congratulate Sean Morris and his family on this incredible achievement, our club is delighted to continue with the wonderful success of club member Zoe Hyde at the Olympics with even more of our members flying the flag high for Irish Rowing.
Please find a short piece by one of our members David Lynch :
It is a huge honour for Tralee Rowing Club to have their member Seán Morris compete in the 2024 World Rowing Championships in St. Catharines in Canada. This is a phenomenal achievement for a club not yet two decades into its existence, which is constantly on the grow and will only further develop thanks to Seán’s pioneering feats. Seán will row in the stroke seat in the junior men’s 4x boat alongside crew mates Micheal McGrath (Cappoquin RC) Jack Rafferty of St Micheal’s and Rian Claffey from Athlone Boat Club. Two time Olympic Gold Medal winner Paul O’ Donovan will also be part of this Irish squad as he competes in the lightweight men’s single. This competition will build on his successful participation and experience at the Coup De La Jeunesse in Amsterdam last year, an indication that Seán was on the path to great things. Since 2019 Seán has worked towards these impressive achievements under the guidance of his volunteer coaches at Tralee Rowing Club, including his parents Fiona and James. Their instruction has been crucial in preparing Seán and his fellow juniors for national and, now, thanks to Seán’s determination and grit, international competitions. They have given generously of their time, including countless early morning sessions and they have travelled to distant venues across the country. The club would also like to acknowledge that it has taken a village to put Seán in this position and appreciates the generous support of the community and plenty of local businesses which have helped the club to prosper in the past number of years. Many junior club members would have been involved in national trialling in the past two years, the format for selecting rowers for the international tournaments. These rigorous tests include a 30 minute long row on the erg machine, a 500m sprint and a 6km time trial (all in 36 hours!!!) Time trials on the water are also held at the National Rowing Centre in Farran Wood. For those uninitiated, the anticipation and preparation for these tests demand a tremendous amount of psychological and physical conditioning on top of the already hectic junior training schedule. It is a credit to Seán that he has withstood all these taxing challenges by training strenuously, even in his free time around his Leaving Cert, with no complaint or grievance to reach the highest stage in world rowing besides the Olympic Games (which he could well reach on his current trajectory!) In recent times, Seán has spent the past three weeks at an intensive training camp in Cork, pushing himself to his limits to ensure that he brings the best result possible to to his club and his country. Seán will certainly not be the last TRC junior to compete on the international stage, and his trailblazing efforts, unthinkable previously for such a small club, will hopefully set a high standard that will encourage younger rowers to attempt to replicate his phenomenal achievements. However, for the moment, we wish this club member who has no limit to his potential the very best of luck.
