Irish Defence Forces Rowing Club - Cork | Irish Rowing Clubs | Row HQ

Irish Defence Forces Rowing Club is the Rowing Ireland affiliate for serving Defence Forces personnel. The current club trains at the National Rowing Centre and gained a dedicated boathouse and training facility at Collins Barracks, Cork Camp Field, in August 2025.

Defence Forces rowing had earlier championship success through the Defence Forces Rowing Association in the 1980s and 1990s, then declined during the early 2000s. The idea of a fresh club emerged during a 2013 to 2015 deployment to Sweden and developed further through discussions in 2018.

The new club was launched in September 2020 by Dave Williams, Martyn Underhill and Rob Diffley. Its first introduction camp at Fermoy offered 16 places and brought nine new members into training; a second camp added seven more and took club strength to 30.

The founders recovered three Defence Forces boats, two single sculls and a double, and borrowed equipment from civilian clubs. Members trained on rowing machines, bikes and in the gym before racing at Graiguenamanagh, Cappoquin, Ocean to City and Fermoy in 2021, earning wins or top-three places at each.

Rowing Ireland formally welcomed the club as a new affiliate in August 2023. By 2024 it reported 32 members, a new coxed quad delivered in December 2023, a double due that summer, nine planned Rowing Ireland regattas and another learn-to-row camp.

The club has won Rowing Ireland regattas and the Ocean to City race. Sanita Puspure, a three-time Olympian and two-time world champion, became its high-performance coach, and Olympian Ronan Byrne joined the Defence Forces in September 2025.