With over 1,000 students set to race at UL indoor arena on Monday 6th March 2023. We are thrilled that an unprecedented number of participants are expected to gather for the annual Munster Schools Indoor Blitz, a day filled with relay races on rowing machines by teams of secondary school students from all over the region and beyond. 

Students from Munster and further afield, have trained and learned rowing skills at Rowing Ireland led PE classes at their schools. They will put up stiff competition while having great fun engaging in exercise and a sport they can do their whole lives. 

“Many rowers would consider the rowing machine a training device to shy away from, however, when you use it for a relay race with your friends, it’s nearly as good as being on the water,” said Amy Johnson, the local coordinator for the Rowing Ireland Get Going Get Rowing programme, who has trained so many of these students. “It’s been so fun to watch these students be introduced to the sport via this super-fun way to compete. It’s great we can bring them together on a day where it’s just pure fun to compete against other schools.” 

Races will begin at 9:30am and continue until 3pm. PE students form teams of five within their year group. Experienced rowers can compete together in an open category for an extra shot to bring accolades to their school. 

“This years is the Champions Cup, which will go home with the school that earns the most points with their medal wins,” said Derek Bowen, the Manager of Get Going Get Rowing. “We’ve been doing this event for quite some time now, and it never gets old seeing the students working so hard and having so much fun at it. It’s great to have it back since Covid, and amazing that this year is poised to be our biggest ever.”

Rowing Ireland President Neville Maxwell said, “The Get Going Get Rowing Blitz is a fantastic event in Munster. There is huge rivalry between schools within sport in Munster, and this is another opportunity to go head to head.” He continued by saying, “The atmosphere and excitement in the arena is like no other, so make sure to come along and potentially spot some future Olympians!”. With schools coming from as far as Dublin to see if they can take on our Munster schools, it’s definitely an event not worth missing. 

The Munster Schools Indoor Blitz receives support from Rowing Ireland, Limerick Sports Partnership, and Sport Ireland.