NUI Galway's Boat Club successfully defended its senior titles and status as kingpins at the Irish National Rowing Championships last weekend in Cork. On Saturday afternoon, the NUI Galway rowers snatched victory in the main event, the Men's Senior Eights, claiming the 'Big Pot' by just 3 feet (0.19 seconds) from Queens University, Belfast who were hotly tipped to topple the reigning champions after a very successful season both at home and abroad. In an almost exact repeat of last year s epic showdown, NUI Galway came from behind to once again win on the line by the narrowest of margins. This year s victory was a more polished and confident performance from a very experienced and much-decorated group of athletes, who after this latest win boasts a staggering total of 75 Irish Senior Championship titles between them. The winning crew was Eddie Mullarkey, Jason Wall, Dave Mannion, Paul Giblin, Evin Donnelly, Alan Martin, Cormac Folan, James Wall and Ruadhán Cooke. The crew was coached by club stalwart Tom Tuohy. Four of the winning Eight had already retained their own Senior Fours Championship the previous day with an impressive display over an in-form UCD crew, recently victorious at Henley Royal Regatta. Male and female crews in the Novice and Intermediate grades represented the club with distinction and can draw inspiration from the success of the senior men for future campaigns. Speaking of the Boat Club s success, Gary Ryan, Elite Sports Development Officer at NUI Galway, said: "It is a fantastic achievement for the crews and their coach to win the two most prestigious men s events at the Irish National Rowing Championships. All of the rowers and coaches across the club deserve enormous credit for their work in making the NUI Galway Boat Club consistently one of the strongest clubs in Ireland and one which we are very proud of". -Ends-