New kayaking course at Kilcullen Canoe Club

Image: Kilcullen CC.

Kilcullen Canoe Club is running a month-long introductory course to kayaking beginning Tuesday, 29 July, writes Catherine Behan. The Canoeing Ireland’s Level 2 Kayak Skills syllabus is suitable for total beginners or for participants who have some previous experience. 

The course will run on Tuesday evenings starting on 29 June from 6.30 pm-8.30 pm, with the assessment on the final evening. Participants will learn basic boat handling skills and safety and rescue skills needed for paddling in flat water. All participants must be able to swim.

Fees range from €150 for Juniors to €600 for full family, which includes club membership for the entire year, as well as Canoeing Ireland membership. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.

Membership allows access to club boats, paddles, and safety equipment, along with skills-improvement evenings with club volunteers and occasional trips. Members can develop skills in other paddle sports at the club, including slalom, freestyle, polo, racing, and paddleboarding.

Children under 12 must join with a guardian or parent, or as part of a family.

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Former CPC student is U23 Canoe Marathon World Champion

Images: Canoeing Ireland.

Ronan Foley, formerly of Brannockstown, is the U23 Canoe Marathon World Champion, writes Brian Byrne. He took gold last Friday in the category after a great race and an incredibly strong finish to distance Philip Knudsen of Denmark to the line.

The event was held in Vejen in Denmark under the auspices of the International Canoe Federation. 

Ronan began his paddling with Kilcullen Canoe Club and later moved to the Salmon Leap Club in Leixlip. Last year he took home gold in the Mens U23 K1 category the the 84th Descenso Internacional Del Rio Sella at Asturias in Spain. For almost two years he has been living in Denmark, training with the Danish top paddlers.

Ronan, a former student at CPC, is the son of Sinead and grandson of the late Brian and Mary Foley of Brannockstown. In 2018 he was presented with a Kilcullen Community Award for his achievements in winning gold and silver medals in European and world events. His athletic career and his winning performance is the result of very hard work and persistence over several years.

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Brendan O'Connell to recall his Olympics this evening

An online talk by Brendan O'Connell on his Olympics years will be hosted this evening by Kilcullen Canoe Club, writes Brian Byrne.

The Facebook event will run from 9pm-10.30pm, and during it Brendan will recall his times as an Olympics canoeing contender for Ireland in 1972 and 1976. The link to the Facebook page involved is here.

Brendan was one of the Kilcullen Olympians honoured last year during the Kilcullen 700 celebrations.

NOTE: Time of talk changed, due to error on my part I had it this morning.

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Ronan gets two Irish national canoeing awards

Kilcullen canoeist Ronan Foley got two awards at the recent inaugural Canoeing Ireland National Awards at the Spa Hotel in Lucan, writes Brian Byrne.

Ronan's awards were in the Junior Canoe Marathon and Canoe Sprint categories.

Young canoeists were prominent in the awards, which were spread over a range of disciplines, including Freestyle, Marathon, Polo, Slalom, Sprint, Surf and Whitewater. There were also awards for Community Impact, Event of the Year, Team of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.

The keynote speaker was the president of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Sarah Keane.

Ronan was was presented with a Kilcullen Community Award last November for his achievements in winning gold and silver medals in European and world events last year, the latest in a growing tally of high level competition results.


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Ronan wins silver in canoe marathon World Championships

Kilcullen canoeist Ronan Foley won a silver medal today in the Junior K1 at the canoe marathon World Championships in Vila de Prado in Portugal, writes Brian Byrne.

He beat Vince Petro of Hungary for the second slot on the podium, behind Thorbjorn Rask of Denmark.

Ronan is pictured above with his coach Jon Simmons (Picture from Afloat.ie).

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Enthusiastic support for Ronan Foley

Ronan Foley (centre) with his mother Sinead, and former Irish canoe Olympian Brendan O'Connell.

There was an enthusiastic support in O'Connell's Bar last evening for the Table Quiz fundraiser for canoeist Ronan Foley, writes Brian Byrne.

The funds raised will go towards Ronan's costs of competing in the 2018 Canoe Marathon World Championships in Portugal in September.

He will be among 1,000 competitors from 50 countries at the event in Prado Vila Verde, which runs 6-9 September. He has already this year won gold for Ireland at the canoe marathon European Championships, held in in Metkovic, Croatia.

Brendan O'Connell, who competed for Ireland in Canoe Sprint in the Olympic Games of 1972 (Munich) and 1976 (Montreal), said Ronan is a 'great young lad' with a lot of potential. "He's better than I ever was," he added.

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Fundraiser for Ronan's World Marathon bid

A fund-raising night in O'Connell's Bar on Friday 17 August will help with the costs for canoeist Ronan Foley to compete in the World Marathon Championship in October, writes Brian Byrne.

He won a gold medal for Ireland in the Canoe Marathon European Championships in Croatia in early July.

That was his second big win of the year — he won another gold in May at the Canoe World Cup in Portugal.

And he produced another promising result at the canoe sprint World Junior and Under-23 Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria just a week ago, winning the B Final of the Junior Men’s K1 500 metres. He had also won the B Final of the K1 1,000 metres. He placed 10th overall in both K1 500 and K1 1,000.

Ronan also took part in the World Canoeing Championships in Pietermaritzburg in South Africa last year.

His winning performance is the result of very hard work and persistence over several years. He brought home silver and bronze from the same Portugal event last year.

Ronan, who began paddling with Kilcullen Canoe Club, also took home a bronze medal from the 2017 Sella Descent in Spain. He was among more than a thousand paddlers who took part in the annual 20km event, taking home his medal in the Junior Men's K1 division and adding to an impressive array of achievements over recent years.


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Canoeist Ronan adds to international tally

Ronan Foley from Kilcullen took home a bronze medal from the 2017 Sella Descent in Spain this week, writes Brian Byrne.

He was among more than a thousand paddlers who took part in the annual 20km event, taking home his medal in the Junior Men's K1 division and adding to an impressive array of achievements over recent years.

These included winning the Junior Men's K1 at the British National Championships a couple of weeks ago, a bronze medal at the European Marathon Championships in Portugal in June of this year, and the month before, he brought home for Ireland silver and bronze medals from the Marathon World Cup in Belgium.

Previous achievements have included winning the Tay Descent in Dundee, Scotland, in 2015 and 2016; winning the Liffey Descent Junior Men class in 2016; and in the same year taking second in the British Marathon Championships and third in the International Sella Descent in Spain. He also represented Ireland in the World Marathon Championships in Germany and in the Junior Sprint.

At the end of August, Ronan will be taking part in the World Canoeing Championships in Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. It will require time for acclimatisation to high altitude, so the participants need to be there for more than two weeks from 28 August.

(ED NOTE: Going to the WCC is a particularly costly trip, with no state support available, and any sponsorship that might be out there would be very welcome.)