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BBC News
14 hours ago
- BBC News
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BBC Elaine Nelson from Glenarm Rowing Club says this year's event is one of the biggest to date The coastal County Antrim village of Glenarm has this weekend hosted the All-Ireland coastal rowing championship. The last time the yearly event was held in Northern Ireland was in 2013 when rowers descended on Carnlough, just around the coast from Glenarm. Organisers believe over 10,000 people have attended this year's three-day competition. Thirty-six rowing clubs are participating with 550 crews, attracting rowers from all over the island of Ireland. The championship features rowers of all ages Elaine Nelson from Glenarm Rowing Club says the event has grown since beginning in 1992, adding this year's event is one of the biggest to date. "Because we are so big now, Carnlough couldn't accommodate us," she said. She says while hosting the championship is great news for Glenarm, it is even better for the wider community and the tourism industry as people are booked "as far and wide as Belfast, Carrickfergus, Ballycastle and beyond". Doireann (right) described the gold medal she won as "the cherry on top" The championship features rowers of all ages with an under-12's category and a legend's category, which is for those who are 60 plus. Visiting teams were certainly enjoying the sunshine and the comradery at the event. Sister and brother Doireann and Colm Kelly of Flesk Valley Rowing Club in Killarney enjoyed some sibling rivalry as 14-year-old Colm told us that 16-year-old Doireann had won a gold medal in one of her races. "He'll have to work really hard now to prove himself now," Doireann laughed, adding that it was hard work but the gold medal was "the cherry on top". George Livanos from Kilmacabea Rowing Club in Cork says he's "coming back" to Glenarm George Livanos from Kilmacabea Rowing Club in Cork described the water conditions as "perfect". He said he had never visited Glenarm before but said he was, "coming back, especially if it's this sunny all the time ... which they've told me it is". For those who were visiting within Northern Ireland, it also proved a popular day out. Mervyn Wallace, who lives nearby, was spending his second day at the championship with his son-in-law Lionel Date Mervyn Wallace who lives nearby was spending his second day at the championship with his son-in-law Lionel Date. "We were here yesterday and the craic and the atmosphere was absolutely superb, and so we came back today again." Coastal rowing will soon make the world stage with Beach Sprint Rowing, a version of coastal rowing set to feature in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
BreakingNews.ie
17 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Linda Djougang says time in France key to developing her game
As Ireland prepares for the Rugby World Cup, one player who will be crucial to Ireland's chances of success is Linda Djougang. The Leinster prop has been a key part of Ireland's turnaround in fortunes, with Ireland missing out on the previous World Cup in 2022 following qualifying defeats to Spain and Scotland. Advertisement Initially, times did not get any better, with a wooden spoon in the 2023 Six Nations, before the appointment of Scott Bemand helped turn around Ireland's fortunes. For Djougang, developing her game as a prop came when she moved to France, as she joined French side ASM Romagnat in Clermont in 2021. "In 2021, I went to France after the we were unsuccessful in the World Cup qualifier. "I wanted to keep learning, I wanted to challenge myself, obviously it was a t=tough time for the team. Advertisement "For me personally, it was important to just put my head down and continue to learn. There is no better place as a prop than to go to France where they just love to scrum. "I was really young, it was important just to go to the home of scrums and learn my masterpiece." It has been a unique journey for the 28-year-old in rugby, who would not have taught back in 2015 she would go on to become an International player. Having signed up to make friends at work, the rules were not known to Djougang , but nonetheless, those who watched were encouraged by what they saw. Advertisement I signed up for tag rugby just to make friends with my colleagues at work. The game was cancelled and everyone else removed their name from the list. "But the elite team - at the company - were playing a final and they needed a girl and I was the only one that didn't remove my name from the sheet because I wasn't good at technology. "So, they were like, 'who's Linda? Do you want to play in this tag rugby final?' 'Yeah, why not?' "They were like, 'do you know rugby? Have you ever learned to play rugby?' 'No.' Advertisement "I spent the whole day at work, googling 'what is rugby?' "I showed up at Wanderers, which became my first rugby club. I didn't know any of the rules. I was always offside. The ref was like, 'if you're offside one more time, I'm going to give you a yellow card.' "Then my friend passed me the ball and I ran the pitch. They were all screaming at me to score. I dropped the ball because I didn't know the rule about grounding the ball. "I got recruited there by the Wanderers manager. She came up to me after that tag rugby and asked if I wanted to play physical rugby. Real rugby. I asked her, 'what was real rugby?' Advertisement "I ended up playing for Wanderers in Division 4. I got recruited to go to the Leinster trials. Then I went on to Old Belvedere and Leinster and that's where my journey started." Fast foward to 2025, and 48 caps later, and Djougang could win her 50th cap at the World Cup. Since Beamand took over, Ireland qualified for the World Cup through a third place finish in the Six Nations, and secured memorable wins over New Zealand and Australia. Now a team that showed they can compete with the best, Djougang beleives teams will be looking at Ireland differently at the World Cup. "The fact that we played so well in Vancouver and came second among top tier one teams, the fact that. The fact we had Australia and we were able to perform. "We are defenitley not going into this World Cup as underdogs. I think the fact we are fifth in the world, our goal is too keep growing. "We know what other teams think of us, but for us it is to perform and keep winning and performing. At the end of the World Cup, to have no regrets and leave the jersey in a better place."
BreakingNews.ie
18 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
More than third of women playing football and camogie experience urinary leakage
More than one third of women playing Gaelic football and camogie experience urinary leakage during training and match play, research has found. Urinary leakage – a form of incontinence – remains a hidden struggle for many female athletes, largely due to embarrassment and stigma, a report found. Advertisement Dublin City University's research, published in Science and Medicine in Football, explores how menstrual cycle-related symptoms, hormonal contraceptive use, and indicators of pelvic floor dysfunction affect players of ladies Gaelic football and camogie. Among players not using hormonal contraceptives, 97.7 per cent reported menstrual cycle–related symptoms, most commonly abdominal cramping (84 per cent) and fatigue (82.2 per cent). Around 85 per cent believe their menstrual cycle affects onfield performance, with 59 per cent indicating a negative impact. Dr David Nolan (DCU/PA) Approximately 37 per cent of athletes experienced urinary leakage during training or matches, suggesting potential pelvic floor concerns. A high proportion also experience urinary urgency (47.8 per cent) and genital pain (43.4 per cent). Advertisement Dr David Nolan, assistant professor of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the DCU School of Health and Human Performance, said urinary leakage is a current taboo in women's sports. He said: 'There's more and more data being gathered, more studies coming out showing that active young sports women are experiencing urinary leakage at a significant rate, very high prevalence in gymnastics, in strength sports. 'But now in field sports, you get more data that it's affecting up to one third of our players. 'From working in female sport myself, I knew there was a prevalence of it, but I didn't expect it to be that high. This is probably the issue of why it's not spoken about more, and why players probably don't speak about it as much as they themselves probably don't realise that it's as commonplace. Advertisement 'If they think that it's something that's not affecting their teammates as much as them, they're probably less likely to speak because they don't know how common it actually is.' He added: 'The common symptoms are the urinary leakage, then urinary urgency, so the strong desire to go to the bathroom. You can have prolapse within the vagina, and then you can have anal incontinence linked to it. 'The most common symptoms, though, would be the urine leakage and the urinary urgency. The sad and frustrating thing about them suffering in silence is with physiotherapy and just exercise interventions, we can significantly reduce those symptoms.' He said the effects can lead to women dropping out of their sport. Advertisement He added: 'We do have evidence to show that it's linked to drop out in sport and again, because there can be potential shame or stigma around it and a source of embarrassment. 'So players might, in extreme cases, drop out of sports, or be less motivated to train. It can occur mostly in high impact, high kind of stress sports and performance – so they might be hesitant to push themselves hard or to engage in intense activities for fear of of this embarrassment.' The new peer-reviewed study of ladies' Gaelic footballers and camogie players in Ireland has thrown new light on the issue. Some 455 female Gaelic games athletes across both club and inter-county level were surveyed. Advertisement The study asked players about their menstrual cycles, use of hormonal contraceptives, like the contraceptive pill, and any pelvic floor dysfunction symptoms. Firstly, the survey confirmed that menstrual-related symptoms are highly prevalent. Among players not using hormonal contraceptives, 97.7 per cent reported at least one menstrual-related symptom each month. The most common complaints were abdominal cramping (experienced by 84 per cent of players) and fatigue or low energy (82 per cent). Perhaps not surprisingly, a large proportion – about 59 per cent perceived a mostly negative impact on how they play, citing issues like pain, heavy bleeding, or sluggishness during certain cycle phases. The study also looked at hormonal contraceptives. Just over half of the Gaelic players (51.7 per cent) were on some form of hormonal contraception, with the pill by far the most popular choice (used by about 69 per cent). Some 62 per cent of the athletes using hormonal contraceptives reported side effects, including fatigue (37.2 per cent) and experiencing mood swings or low mood (35.0 per cent). About one in three contraceptive-users (31.6 per cent) even felt that their contraception was impacting their athletic performance. However, issues around the pelvic floor is an aspect of women's health that athletes and coaches rarely discuss, the research found. 'Pelvic floor dysfunction' is an umbrella term for problems like urinary incontinence (leakage), urgency (sudden intense need to go), or pelvic organ prolapse. The stereotype is that these issues only impact older women or those who have had children. In this research, the average age of players surveyed was just 23.6 years old, and most had likely never given birth as the average first-time mother in Ireland is 31.5. Despite this, a considerable number of these young athletes reported troubling pelvic floor symptoms. The authors behind the report recommend enhanced education and support for athletes, coaches, and support staff on menstrual health, contraceptives, and pelvic floor health – as well as individualised symptom management strategies, integrating physiological monitoring with athlete feedback.
