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Rowing at Coleraine Inst has a committed, dedicated and enthusiastic following, with many boys from years 9 to 14 taking the opportunity to represent their school on the water. The new boathouse and changing facilities that are shared with the rugby club opened in 2011 and donations from Old Boys have helped with the purchase of new equipment recently.
Most training takes place on the River Bann and during the winter months it can be cold and tempestuous, often proving a more intimidating adversary than many competitors. As a result only the hardiest and most dedicated row for Coleraine Inst.
Since 2010 Mr Black has lead the coaching team, setting out a rigorous training regime on and off the water . Training is as focused as it is been relentless. Using training programmes and techniques from GB Rowing’s talent identification scheme and from some of the top clubs and universities in England no stone is left unturned in the uncompromising pursuit of boat speed. Even when the river has frozen over training continues in the snow.
With gritty determination such as this in the club it is not surprising that it has produced some of the country’s finest rowing talent. Alan Campbell and Richard Chambers have represent Great Britain at the Olympics in Bejing in the single scull and lightweight four respectively and are set to repeat this in London. Athens Olympian Richard Archibald even gives up much of his free time to pass his experience onto the next generation of Olympians from Coleraine Inst.
The club is well supported by C.O.B.R.A. (Coleraine Old Boys Rowing Association) with dedicated coaches William Wright, Ross Cochrane, David Stafford, Andy Wright, Alex Humphrey, Philip Hamill and Jason Taggart giving up countless hours of their time to support the club. In addition to help the coaching the Old Boys have been responsible for providing new boats, blades and rowing machines.
New Boathouse
In December 2011 the club moved out of the old boathouse and into a brand new facilities. Whilst there were many fond memories of the old building the coaches and boys were pleased to be moving to a more modern facility. All of the pennants and photos were carefully salvaged by the Mr Cassells and are now on display in the museum.
CAIBC lift the Hamburg Trophy for the first time - 27th December 2011
The annual CAIBC vs COBRA has seen the school boys celebrate their first victory over the Old Boys. The crew of Adam Millar, Corey McDowell, Ryan Pierce, Philip McCullough, Stephen McKay, Mark McMullan, Callum Marshall, Graham Hunter and cox Marc Bucklee held their nerve against Olympian Richard Chambers’ crew to pull ahead in the middle of the race to earn a hard fought victory.
Indoor Rowing Competition a huge success at Open Night
 
Scott Warke and Graham Hunter put potential rowers through their paces at open night. The young rowers enjoyed the opportunity to take part in an exciting indoor rowing competition with tight racing and vocal support from parents adding to the atmosphere. As the only school in the area to offer the sport many parents were impressed by the sports display put on by the school.
Boat Naming Ceremony
History repeated itself at Coleraine Inst on Monday 6 June when a young oarsman of the 1950s returned to present a new boat to his 21st century successors. Rodney Evans was a pupil from 1952 until 1957, and as a junior boarder he took up rowing mainly because it guaranteed some extra time out of school! Once kindled, his love of the sport stayed with him into adult life. He later rowed with Nottingham Britannia, and continued as a veteran until well into his fifties.
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