Carlow Rowing Club’s Michael Duke to represent Ireland at 2025 Home International

Carlow Rowing Club’s Michael Duke will represent Ireland at this Saturday’s Home International Regatta at Dorney Lake in England.

In addition to contesting the single sculls at the 2025 tournament, the 17-year-old competitor will also team up with compatriots, Art Thornbury (St. Michael’s Rowing Club), Seán Harte (Waterford Boat Club) and Rory Keeley (Clonmel Rowing Club) to race in the Home International quads.

It is not the Carlow rower’s first time competing on this stage, having landed silver with the Ireland Junior Eights as well as finishing third with the Ireland four-man team in last year’s competition, held in Strathclyde, Scotland - the highlight in a season in which he competed for Neptune Rowing Club in Dublin.

He secured a return to Home International competition after taking part in this season’s trials, which began back in November and continued in March when selectors finalised teams for three major internationals, namely the World Junior Championships, the Coupe de Jeunesse Regatta and the Home International.

Duke went very close to making the cut for the Coupe de Jeunesse, an international regatta for young rowers from all around Europe.

Indeed, with three athletes competing for one place in that competition, the Palatine lad was pipped by just a length in the decisive time trial in Cork in April.

Nevertheless, earning selection again for this season’s Home International is yet another major achievement for Duke, who will still have another year in the junior ranks ahead of him.

“The great thing about this is that Michael was sculling so well in the single that he will now actually row in the single scull and also in the quad in the Home International,” said Barry Doogue, who coaches Duke, along with Tony Dooley.

“It’s great, because he's the first junior to represent the club in the singles [at the Home International] for a long time. And the reason he's doing it is because he's the fastest junior out of those four lads who are going.

“Michael’s a good lad. He never misses a training session. He's just so committed, it’s unbelievable. He's such a lovely lad and he's getting taller and stronger all the time.

“He’s a really good junior sculler. He'd probably be in the top four or five junior scullers in the country at the moment.

“He has another year left at junior next year, so hopefully he'll row again next season, because I feel he’ll definitely make the Coupe de Jeunesse team then.

“He was only a length off qualifying for that this year and, the funny thing about it is that, in regattas he has beaten fellas who are actually going to the Coupe de Jeunesse. He’s got stronger as the season has gone on,” he said.

The Ireland Home International squad has been in training in Cork for the past seven days and will be heading to England on Friday, with racing taking place on Saturday.

And Duke, whose father Brendan picked up a Junior Pair Championship title with Carlow Rowing Club back in 1995, has enjoyed some very encouraging form heading into this week’s trip to Lake Dorney, having won the J18A Single Scull at the Grand League Lough Rinn Regatta back in May.

“Michael and the other rowers are all training in Cork and they’re getting on really well so hopefully they can really perform on Saturday,” said Doogue.

On another note, Carlow Rowing club will be running a summer camp next month.

Running on the weekends of August 23rd and 24th and August 30th and 31st (from 10am – 12pm), the camp is open to all aged 12 and over and costs €40pp. All participants must be able to swim.

For more information email: secretarycarlowrowing@gmail.com.