St Aidan’s make a splash winning nationals

IT WAS only a few short years ago that St Aidan’s CS in Tallaght partnered up with Active South Dublin taking part in the Rowing Ireland initiative.

Since then they have gone on to win numerous titles including the Schools Regatta earlier in the Spring and they were presented with their trophy and two state of the art rowing machines officially on Wednesday.

School Principal Kevin Shortall on the success of rowing within the school.

“They love it. We could let everything else go and they wouldn’t let the rowing go. Students from all backgrounds look after one another, language isn’t an issue. It’s just brilliant.

‘It’s improved the sense of community, with anything like this, when loads of people get involved and they achieve something there’s a sense of belonging.

‘Our motto with the school is make this place your home. The more we do things like this the more at home they feel.”

Coach and P.E teacher Martina O’Neill launched rowing at St. Aidan’s three years ago, her main goal being to deliver a sport that every student could achieve and participate in. Initially just 28 students signed up after a six week training period. By the team’s first competition, they had signed up assistant coach Paula Davis as our driving force to motivate our rowers. Paula’s attitude, mindset and approach to coaching made her the perfect fit for the team.

By the 2025 season, the squad had swelled to 90 competitors with participants representing every year group from first year to sixth. Their medal tally rose just as sharply: 29 medals in year one, 36 medals in year two before winning the ultimate prize earlier this year, the national title.

St. Aidan’s athletes went into the tournament and performed their best racing of the entire year. The girls’ squad swept gold across the board, the senior boys and senior mixed team claimed gold, and the junior mixed team earned a crucial silver.

When the final tallies came in, St. Aidan’s Community School stood 18 points clear, enough to be crowned National School Champions 2025.

Coach Ms O.Neill spoke on the achievement.

“The kids were ecstatic, They kept checking the results in disbelief, hardly

believing it. They knew they had achieved something special.”

Rowing was chosen deliberately as a sport of inclusion and to break the same cycle of students dominating basketball, football, and other team games. During PE sessions, every student in St. Aidan’s tried rowing at least once, and those who fell in love with it, joined the team.

Its rhythmic, repetitive motion quickly hooked even those who had never played a sport or who were too shy for traditional team games. For students with learning difficulties or English as an additional language, rowing became what Ms. O Neill calls “a universal language,” where no words were needed to feel connected.

With a national title, new equipment, and a schoolwide passion for the sport, St. Aidan’s

Community School has shown that with inclusion, teamwork, and sheer determination, a brand new programme can rise from first strokes to national champions in just three years.