The last two weeks have been busy for UCD Sport. Sports Editor Adam Schmitz provides an update on some of UCD’s recently successful clubs and highlights the success of UCD Relay for Life.
UCD SURF Club Claims Three Medals At INTERVARSITIES 2025
UCD Surf Club picked up three medals at the Irish Surfing Student Nationals in March, with Alana Walsh, Aisling Murphy and James Mogan all taking a spot in the top three in their respective competitions. The annual Surf Intervarsities took place in Strandhill, County Sligo and featured eight representatives from UCD across five different competitions. Following a “big night out” at The Strand Bar, the day of competition featured heats, quarterfinals and semi-finals before an eventual final.
Walsh and Mogan both picked up their medals on longboards. Mogan expressed surprise with his silver medal to the University Observer, saying “I thought I was cooked [...] a pretty cool achievement!”. Walsh, who also took home silver and sits on the club’s committee, took the opportunity to praise the competitors from UCD, saying “I’m so proud of everyone who competed over the weekend”.
Murphy placed third in the women’s shortboard competition, an achievement that was matched in the men’s shortboard competition by former UCD Surf Club member David Gaynor. Another accolade for UCD was picked up by Diarmuid Biggane, who competed in the novice competition. Biggane won his heat but was unable to compete for a medal as there was not enough time to run the semi-finals.
UCD Surf Club’s Public Relations Officer, Colm Aherne, spoke proudly of the competitors to the University Observer, saying “we never win anything!”. Aherne took the opportunity to mention all the club’s other events open to students on campus, including weekly yoga classes, sea swims and trips around Ireland and abroad. He says “The UCD surf club are a club that just wants to have fun, most of this just so happens to take place around things like a surfboard, the beach and maybe, just maybe a beer”.
UCD Boat Clubs Defeat Trinity College For Fourth Consecutive Year
Both UCD Boat Clubs have claimed victory over Trinity College Dublin for the fourth consecutive year in the annual colours race. In the 75th edition of Gannon Cup, the UCD Senior Men’s Eight defeated Trinity while the UCD Senior Women’s Eight won the 37th Corcoran Cup. Trinity meanwhile took home gold in both novice races, winning the Dan Quinn Shield and Sally Moorhead Trophy.
All four races took place on March 22nd on the River Liffey. The races take place over 2km, starting at O’Connell Bridge. Olympic bronze medalist, Daire Lynch, rowed in 7 seat for the senior men’s team. The UCD Men’s Senior Eight took an early lead and ended up winning the race by some distance.
The women’s race was a closer affair, with UCD eventually winning by just four lengths. UCD’s win came as somewhat of a surprise, with Alison Daly, bow seat of the UCD Ladie’s Boat Club winning team, saying “Honestly, I don’t think anyone could have predicted the outcome, most people favoured Trinity. We backed ourselves on the day, tuning out the background noise, and that’s what really mattered. It was my fourth Corcoran Cup, and arguably, the most exciting one yet”.
Clouds filled the sky on the day of the race, with UCD Seven Seat Niamh Cambell saying “The conditions were tougher on the day than we expected, but thankfully we managed them well and were able to have a solid row, coming out with the result we hoped for”.
Thank you to UCD Ladies’ Boat Club Public Relations Officer Ella Fitzpatrick for speaking to the University Observer.
Relay for Life UCD Raises Over €80,000
On April 2nd, hundreds of UCD community members, as part of many different teams, took to the UCD Athletics Track for Relay for Life 2025. The students and staff walked in their teams for 24 hours, eventually raising over $80,000 for the Irish Cancer Society.
The event featured many events during the day and through the night, including a silent disco, music bingo and the annual ‘Candle of Hope’ event, paying tribute to those lost to cancer. A highlight of the day was a fitness class led by Iain Ward, the ‘King of Chemo’.
Jack Graham and Ipsa Dutta were elected co-chairs of the UCD Relay for Life Committee earlier this year. They led a team of over twenty committee members, organising the event which eventually raised nearly double last year’s total.