Encirc support for Fermanagh Olympic rowing hopefuls Nathan and Ross

Encirc is helping Fermanagh’s two Olympic hopefuls Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan with support to buy some vital equipment that will help them maximise their preparations and potential ahead of this summer’s games in Paris.

The Fermanagh duo, who won a bronze medal in the World Championships in Serbia and qualified the boat for the 2024 Olympic Games, are now concentrating on ensuring they keep their seat in the boat when the crews will be finally selected in March or thereabouts.

Their superb performances last year mean that they are very much in pole position for those seats. It promises to be a massive year for the Nathan and Ross who came through the ranks at Enniskillen Royal Boat Club winning multiple Irish titles as junior rowers along the way.

As they fine tune their training, Encirc was delighted to be able to help them get the best equipment possible to make the most of this wonderful opportunity.

Ross Corrigan explains: “It is brilliant to receive the support from Encirc. For instance, I need to buy a GPS Speed Coach which goes in the boat with me and lets me see the speed of the boat as well as different metrics such as distance. It just really helps with the training.

“We also want to buy a lactate monitor which will help us monitor the training we are doing. So, it lets you know what blood lactate zone you are in. The monitor will let you see if you are sitting at the right intensity for a given training session. It helps tell you if your training is effective or not. It will help maximise the training we do and get the most out of all the sessions between now and Paris.”

Fiacre O’Donnell, Sustainability Director at Encirc commented: “We are delighted to be able to assist Nathan and Ross in what promises to be an incredible year for them. To have two people from Fermanagh potentially in one boat competing at the Olympics is quite something, unparalleled for this county. The boys did so well last year to win bronze at the World Championships, it is important that no stone is left unturned as they up their preparations for the Olympic Games.”

It has been quite a few months for Nathan and Ross after that brilliant bronze at the World Championship. Now, the Paris games loom large on the horizon.

Nathan revealed that while they are in prime position for the seats in the boat, they will not be taking anything for granted: “I suppose over the next couple of months the tension and the pressure will be quite high. It’s six months now to Paris and January will be our first major trial. I think Rowing Ireland want to get things wrapped up by March and have those names on the board.

“So, it will be head down. We went to camp on January 2 to Italy, for our first two week camp of the year and we will just grind it out and do what we do, as we did last year. Hopefully we will come out on the right side of things.”

Both admit the support and reaction of the community since their stellar performance in September has been incredible.

“It has been unbelievable,” enthused Nathan.

He added: “The support we get from the community is such a huge boost for us. Sometimes when you are in a high-performance environment, you get so distracted and caught up with the process, sometimes you forget about what you are training towards.

“The support gives us that extra wee kick that you need every now and then. Every little helps, especially in this sport. We are humbled to have a great community around us, great family and friends as well as people like yourselves at Encirc, who help and support us. It has been incredible.”

Ross agreed: “Even at the World Championships, people were texting and the local papers were following it all. The hype and interest were mad and that has just grown. Now we are meeting people and so many are saying ‘we have tickets and are going’ etc. It means so much to us.”