UCD CANOE CLUB - 40 YEARS
Way back when...
Favourite memories with the club*
"The sesh train simply never stops, it just pulls into the next station".
John Enright
* these stories have been told to the best of the person's ability - they may not be fully true but it's all just a bit of craic in the end!
"That time that I dressed up as the Pope!" (Freshers 2009) - Cathal Finch
"Ross literally coming out of the closet as a woman..."(Bundoran 2014) - Aoife Sheridan
"John Byrne after skinny dipping...(Trinity hid his clothes and he was runnin' around the hostel - naked and confused!) "(Colours, Lahinch 2013) - Rory O'Connor
"One time we were all out west for a summer weekend. I think it was Tellytubby Land. We were trying to get back to the campsite after the pub and Smithy let us all pile into the back of his van. People were piling in everywhere on top of kayaks and gear. It was all a bit manic and then Smithy put Blisters on. The collective reaction was truly extraordinary" (Back in the Day - the '90s) - Elizabeth Benbow
"When it was one of the last practices with the club in the pool. We naturally messed around as it was the end of the night. Somehow in all of this fun, Naddy Jones, Evan O'Keeffe and myself ended up sitting on Sara Griffin's kayak, three quarters of the way submerged while trying to stay afloat. You can guess how well that ended up, with us all dumped back in the water. Even though it is a small memory, I couldn't help but think at the time how nice it was to have people that were as strange as me to be friends with and make memories with, even if only for a semester." (Pool session - May 2016) - Delaney VandenBosssche
"Pretty much all of Kerry 2013 & 2014 - between Andrew Lynam nearly killing Fresher's with his dodgy driving, discussing the concept of 'Reflective Sex', mixing redbull and buckfast, Deividas reciting 'Tea, Toast!' night after night and the debate over how to spell 'Coagulation' properly" - Yvette Schutten & Aoife Sheridan
"Deividas eating ketchup off the wall..." (Midleton, Freshers 2012) - Donagh Hennessy
"The creation of the almighty Chunder-Dragon; a Freshers that Cillian probably forgot to remember!" (Tramore, Freshers 2011) - Ciarán Dunne
"What I remember from my Freshers weekend away was Maryanne running around in her dry suit one of the nights and repeating "The air is full of baby spiders...' all night long..." (Tramore, Freshers 2011) - Ross Kerrigan
"When at Ross Inn, the storm was so strong, stones were being thrown onto the road but people still wanted to go skinny dipping. Actually, Finch (our Safety Officer that year), went around warning everyone NOT to go skinny dipping, then he was the first one in the water!" (Kerry 2013) - Donagh Hennessy
"Dani and Finch holding me in one place and force feeding me vodka in my first year...ah memories..." (Colours, Lahinch 2012) - Lisa Gallagher
"At the end of the trip, just after I got out of my kayak, Kieran checked "Are both her feet on dry land? Oh good, now we can tell her: you completed your first private trip!" I just loved the spirit of 'Sure it'll be grand - but just in case, don't tell the fresher until it's over.'" (Wicklow Trip - Feb 2016) - Doireann Lawless
"My favourite memory was Freshers 2015 finding unattended hooch in the kitchen, while the rest was being sensibly doled to the rest of the club by committee members... Sara, Derv, Ailbhe T and Greg drank! I think it was two pots of the stuff! Think we imagined we were being a lot sneakier than we actually were..." (Bundoran, Freshers 2015) - Niamh Delaney
"How did I join the club? I'd like to say that it was completely (by chance). (At the stall) I met the sweetest girl ever: Marie Harrington. She invited me to the Welcome Night. I arrived late and everybody noticed when I came in. I felt so embarrassed...also I didn't get a word of what they all said during the presentation (flipping Irish accent!!!)...but I decided to keep paddling the river of life and keep smiling. Then I began to relax and understood the word "craic". My first UCDCC pool session, my river trip...I met so many people in a month! At that point, I didn't know they were going to be my best friends ever! You are my Irish family; it was my first time that far away from home but everything appeared so amazing to me. Thanks for all your craziness and kindness! I can't wait to see you all again! (2013/14) - Bérengère 'Beb' Gremillet
"My Freshers Weekend is my favourite memory - everyone was so friendly, nice and drunk...knew the club would suit me perfectly!" (Tramore, Freshers 2014) - Jacqui Mernagh
"My favourite thing about the club is the shear inclusiveness of it. Absolutely anyone can show up and they're immediately greeted and are made feel like close friends and family. The fact that nearly all of my closest friends in the world are in the club reinforces this, sure I'm on the other side of the world with one of them! It's difficult to put a favourite memory in place; the retelling of the Chunder -Dragon story each year; the Alps trips; Kerry; hanging out with your mates close to everyday; the list goes on!" - Niall Finch (2016)
"The time I had as Captain of UCD Canoe Club was an enjoyable and challenging time. I had been a member of the club for 3 years at that point, 1 of those being on committee, and I found myself wanting to provide the same experience that I had enjoyed of the club to the newer members. One of the standout moments for me that summed up the experience that I wanted to repeat to my batch of freshers was when I arrived at my first Dun Laoghaire, and the Captain (Eoghan O’Riordan) remembered my name from the brief conversation that we had at the Freshers stand when I joined the club. While it seems like a small, simple thing, it meant a lot to me at the time.
When I joined the club, I had already been kayaking for several years, and while I joined the club because of this, looking back I realise that I stayed for the people, and the kayaking took a second place in the reasons to be part of the club. The weekends away and all the trips every weekend were fun to me not only because of the kayaking, but because of the bonding that occurred through this social sport, on and off the water, such as retelling the story that evening with a pint in your hand of the time you nearly capsized, or the shared pain of the hangover on the river the next morning. In the club, you could strike up a conversation with someone you didn’t know at all purely because of the common talk piece of kayaking, which turned into a great way to know people in other clubs in Kerry, Varsities, and the Alps, because every kayaker loves to talk about kayaking for obscene lengths of time! I came to UCD without many solid friends, and I was very uncertain of myself, and of other people, I was shy, but I learned a lot in my time with the club; who I was as a person, a respect of the water and of other people, how to work together with friends (on and off the water), and my drinking tolerance (which was is regularly forgotten!). I now have friends for life that I all met as a result of this club, friendships that will last despite time or distance getting in the way. This club developed me as a person (for better or worse!), and for that I’m hugely grateful to the people in it. I was greatly honoured when I was made Captain, and I can only hope that I was able to pass on the experience I had to the following generation." (Captaincy 2014/15) - Ross Kerrigan
"My UCD Canoe Club memories have to include beer hunting at 5AM with Simon Barry; Cling film skirts at Kilkenny Freshers with Richard Pierse; Kerry pubs near the sea; paddling Jacksons; Eric's Birthday; the walk home from Killorglin with Maurice and Richie singing songs and 'walk 500 miles'; Easkey shenanigans." Happy 40th to all UCD Canoe Club members! You are all legends, old and new. - Mike Nooney (2016)
"Okay the memory to start with. When I started I turned up at my first river trip with a nice aran sweater type jumper, a pair of runners and swimming shorts. It was a Liffey trip and there wasn't club gear beyond helmet deck and B/aid. Mick Moore took pity on me and gave me a wetsuit and cag. Without these I would've freezed on the river. I didn't get my wetsuit until Kerry that year. Without people like Mick I wouldn't have been paddling at all. Fast forward a few years and Mick pops up to run a club trip while visiting Dublin. Turns out he's missing a Helmet and B/aid and a few other bits. I've now got those in my car to give to people so I got to return the favour." - Kieran McKevitt (2016)
"I suppose I'll share a memory from my first Merry Kerry ('twas merry indeed). The story begins in the the bar of the Towers hotel where we arrived to an unusually large crowd of locals to an extent there was barely room for ourselves. Being the local I had all the knowledge and someone finally turned around to me and popped the question "Jesus there's a fine crowd here tonight". I couldn't hold in the laughter anymore to which I revealed "sure we all only went and crashed a funeral afters" which was met with gasps of OMG. I said ye're grand out they're only delighted to which we continued to dance and revel in a rendition of Wagon Wheel with the woman who's father had just died. And we were guaranteed a lock-in with the local Kerry district judge sitting in our company. It would only happen in Kerry." (Merry Kerry 2014) - Sara Griffin
"I think the pots and pans party in (Merry) Kerry would have to be one of the top ones and my first Alps trip." - Benny Cullen (2016)
"The night Jer Dunn was awarded the Dee cup. We had the after party in the bar/garden shed in the back garden of whtever house Michael was staying in out by Stillorgan. Needless to say Eoghan decided it was his job, no- his calling, to ensure that Jer's cup stayed full. And it did. Right up until he was so drunk he chugged every refill we out into it and wore the cup as a hat.
Lucy had to come and take him home because it seemed he was having too much fun..." (Spring 2012) - Helena Coughlan
"Firstly my absolute favourite thing about the club is that things aren't taken too seriously and that everyone is included. My favourite memories range from being kidnapped on my way to my Freshers trip in 2003, while fitting 16 people into a telephone box, surfing late in the evening at Easkey Castle that same year, urban kayaking the stairs and desks of lecture theatres in 2004, along with a 40+ strong trip to the Alps, running the River Nile with a big bunch of friends back in 2006/7, especially Dee turning dry nights into parties by taking over DJ duties and 60ish people paddling the Avonmore in memory of her. Finally, the 30th Ball, complete with Boater-X and an "In 'Til You Swim' rodeo at the bottom of the Falls. It's an amazing club and I always remember it as a golden time in my life." - Killian Halpin (2016)
"I had the privilege of starting my year as captain at a time when the club had a lot of positive momentum. 22 of our freshers from the year before had passed their level two assessments, 9 had passed their level threes, we had four polo teams and eight members had just participated in a level two instructor training weekend. The kayaking side was booming and the fun side was too. The first challenge came almost immediately, the new 50m pool was opening on campus and we wanted to get in on it from the start. The pool side of UCD told us we'd need to buy new boats for the pool to use it, the sport side of UCD said they couldn't afford to buy us any. While negotiations for two 90 minute pool sessions a week were going well, without boats we'd be hard pressed to make any use of them. One fortunate series of events later we found a company in Italy who made polo boats, a new irish business that would import them at a good rate, a gap in the furniture and equipment budget for the sports centre that would pay for sixteen boats, helmets, decks and BAs and landed ourselves in a photo shoot of the new pool. Outside of the pool the club seemed to me to continue to flourish, great people joined an already delightful bunch, we went to Wicklow, the fancy dress was creative, the houses in Kerry were warm, we came third in varsities, got club jackets, rash vests and hats and won UCD Sport's award for Varsity Club of the Year." (Captaincy 2012/13) - Maryanne Doyle
"Looking back at my time with the Disco Paddlers, it's hard to pinpoint one particular moment that stood out amongst any other. Even though post-college life has led me to the other side of the world, my 3 years with UCDCC were what gave my college life that extra dimension of friendship, great parties and a passion for a fantastic sport. From taking my first hesitant steps into one of the cold, shark-attacked club wetsuits and wondering who was this 'Eddie' guy that people keep pointing to, to driving across the Alps with a great bunch of friends running our own trips, the UCDCC taught me a lot. Whether we were busting a move in a cardboard costume with questionable structural integrity, introducing some naive fresher to the sinister game of spoons, or rattling off Yogi Bear by a campfire, our trips away were ones never to be missed even though a few exam grades suffered along the way. Now, no matter what life throws at me I just remember to 'lean forward and paddle hard'." - Marie Harrington (2016)
"When I joined the canoe club in 1st year, I didn't know that over the next five years kayaking would show me seven different countries (other than Ireland) from Austria to (New) Zealand and that I'd own 8 different boats for varying lengths of time (my bad). What I thought when I walked straight up to the stall in 1st year was that I would have a group of friends for the next five years, that I would casually do some training with them and keep up my life-long love of water. All of that happened in the past five years but so, so much more happened. The club met and exceeded expectations. Offering a place to develop the structure of weekly paddling, the desire to paddle more than once a week, and somewhere to go back to and see my own progression each year. More than that though, in a university as big as UCD, the canoe club set up annual groups of new friends with similar enough interests to get along. Generally a motley bunch, the club brings some strange people together but has formed friendships that, I hope, are life-long; no matter how far apart we end up." - Derv McAuley (2016)
"I ended up in the club rather coincidentally and didn't have a clue at the time what an important part of my stay in Ireland in would become. Nothing better than a good bit of moving water disco paddler craic on the weekends or in the pool after long research days. Not to forget the nights out... You will be missed!
Winning "fresher of the year" came as a surprise and I had no idea it would be such a burden. Thanks for trying to kill me, UCDCC. For some reason it was an honour anyway." (FOTY 2013/14) - Johannes Thun
My year and all years after, the UCD CC became friends and family.
I started out as a foreign student, back then being enrolled for a masters degree at Michael Smurfit Business School. Knowing this master's will be a tough one I decided I wanted to join one outdoor club and go for it while working hard for my studies :) In the end I decided for the Canoe club. A good friend back then Cathy Davis told me about the club plus I got hooked on wild water kayaking after seeing a paddler on the Kaituna river in New Zealand. So I got up early every Saturday and joined everyone almost every Thursday, then trips to Easkey, Easter Sunday trip, the canoe club ball and intervarsities are the bigger occasions the team got together paddling and celebrating. Oh, I definitely learned to celebrate and have a fun time with the canoe club. The lads and ladies gave me a good lesson in dirty jokes, fighting through ice cold water and celebrating our small and yet great moments together (first time rolling, being able to drink more than 3 pints of Guinness, hot whiskey for the bad throat while paddling in Easkey, sunset, sunrises, never dark night a(also Easkey) dancing all night during exam time and so much more...). Not only did I make friends, some turned out to be great friends till today and close family. With the Canoe club I was lucky to get to know honesty, kindness, trust and support. I learned a great deal about myself, too. I pushed myself further than my limits and got know the joy of worrying less and smile more. That year the committee chose me as fresher of the year. First I was speechless and the in next moment I gave everyone a hug and was so grateful, wanted to thank each and everyone. In a speech I tried but words could not describe how happy and how I felt being part of this team, a first time feeling for me after having trouble to make friends at all in Germany. That night I drank Madagascar booze out of the cup and climbed trees on the campus, it was a non-study all nighter - it was amazing to celebrate with everyone. I came back every year for the UCDCC ball and a few New Year's Kerry trips, continuing the good experiences, adventures and laughs." (FOTY 2010/11) - Livia Tamaska
"My time as captain of UCDCC was all play and no work (a bit of a contrast to myself of late). There were the usual incidents and great nights out, with some expected crossover between those two, but what really marks my time in UCDCC is the people I met, the frends I made and the new paddlers we created. These new Kayakers will go (and have gone) on to introduce many more to the sport both within our club and outside of it. I've only known the club for an eighth of it's existence but I am very proud of the contribution we have made to introducing people to a lifelong interest (or at least a brief fun experience) in a sport that gives us a much greater respect for our waterways than any other. I hope the club can continue to be the organisation that changed the life of a quiet computer gaming secondary school student like myself." (Captaincy 2013/14) - Diarmuid Ryan
"My favourite memory of the club so far is back in my third year. We had opted to go to Bundoran instead of Lahinch for Colours that year and were treated to beautiful weather. While some of the lads had headed out in the morning, myself and my fellow committee members had to gather everyone else to head down to the beach. Once we got the warm-up over and done with, we went straight into the water for some great surf. We ended up being out there much longer than we intended so our instructor for the day started to call us back in, using the hand signals he had shown us earlier on. Unfortunately not everyone was paying attention, including 2016/17 captain, Sara 'the Griffalo' Griffin. She mistook the hand signals as the instructor waving at her, so she just waved back enthusiastically and kept on paddling in the surf, further and further away from us. This led the instructor to trudging through the water and yelling at her to ass back to shore. Not one person could keep a straight face while Sara paddled into us, with a rather sheepish facial expression. She certainly learned after that!!!" (Colours, Bundoran 2014) - Naddy Jones
"I joined in 1999, and found the canoe club to be a home from home. I made lifelong friends that year, and to be chosen as FOTY was certainly an honour. I was captain of the Canoe Club in the year 2001/2002. As I recall, it turned out to be a very dry year - paddling-wise! There were quite a few river trips which scraped down the Boyne and Liffey... The club was in a bit of a transitional phase, building upon the work done by Donogh and his committee the year before in trying to train up club members in their instructorships and the ICU awards scheme. Memorable moments for me: Freshers weekend, the brass band in the castle (Easkey) and the percussion party in Kerry. If I were to do it all again.... I would but I'd probably try to appreciate more the great opportunity that going to University is. To all of you in that boat (pardon the pun!!).. enjoy it, but don't forget to work hard!!!" (FOTY 1999/2000 and Captaincy 2001/02) - Michael O'Donnell
"I never really paddled down a river... I more submerged.I spent my first year ( and second... and third...) repeatedly capsized under the freezing Boyne and murky Liffey. I hold ( well as far as I know) the record for most swims on the Boyne. I can safely say I don't enjoy paddling at all and despite 3-4 years of Saturday trips with amazing and patient leaders I didn't improve one bit. In fact I actually regressed and ended up developing claustrophobia and a deep fear of rivers as a result. And yet some my fondest memories are of that year. I met some of the most charismatic patient intelligent hilarious bat shit crazy people that I have ever had the sheer pleasure of socialising with. Before that year I was intensely shy and reserved - in fact my very first boat trip in Dun Laoghaire was spent observing from a distance as I was too afraid to go up and introduce myself. After one year of insanely wild house parties and Thursday nights in Doyle's with such a friendly eclectic bunch I was able to hold my own ( sometimes with the aid of Stonehouse).
No other club in UCD has the CC spirit, the friendliness, the divilment. I always ask myself how I kayaked for so long when I was so utterly crap at it and then I look at my best friends I have now- 10 years later- and realise they were all the people cheering me on at the s bend with a cup of hot ribena and a snickers for when I inevitably threw away my paddles, popped my deck and screamed, 'I hate this' ." - Louise (Lolly) O'Hara (2016)
"Ever wondered how the (club) canoe got black?! We were doing the Liffey Descent one year and decided we would dress up as Captain Jack Sparrow & co. and painted the canoe black and so we would call it 'The Black Pearl!' We dressed up as pirates and made sure we had our eyeliner on like Captain Jack Sparrow and got some black rum in Lidl and off we went! Captain Jack Skelly and shipmates, Ríona and Asho all got on at the start of the Liffey Descent and got mauled at the jungle and lost all our waterso had no choice but to start drinking our rum and coke from the Dam. We made it to the finish line in proper order and had a great time but the poor ship needs a grand coat of paint now..." (Liffey Descent 2012) - Louise Skelly
"So there I was, minding my own business, just sitting down at a dinner table of the UCD canoe club ball, trying to write a short kayaking based poem. A micro-phoned voice from behind said “Rory O’Connor”. “Huh” I thought, “that’s my name”.….wait, why did someone say my name? I looked up from the table with what I'm sure was cartoonishly slow speed. Andy was looking back at me and clapping. I was the only Rory present that I knew of so I thought I’d better stand and turn around. I should have been paying better attention. Slowly I walked over to where Ailbhe was standing as it dawned on me that I was being awarded the Lynhams Peptual Cup. Known more informally as the oldie of the year trophy, something I never knew I always wanted until I had it. I put a arm around Ailbhe and gave her a huge. At that moment I was reminded of another time I had hugged her, when her hair had smelled overpoweringly of the beer someone had dumped on her head, back in Tramore, on the night I had arrived unannounced dressed as the spanish inquisition. I had been crushed under a mob of people and knocked down the stairs by people excited to see me after half a year’s absence. I wondered which moment I would remember more fondly in the future…this one, I didn’t nearly die twice." (Oldie of the Year 2016)
- Rory O'Connor
"I was honoured to hold the position as captain of UCDCC for 2015/16. Being captain was both rewarding and stressful at times. The sense of duty and pride you feel for the club significantly increases with the responsibility and pressure of not wanting to let people down. I was very fortunate to have a fantastic and enthusiastic committee behind me, the year would have been a very different experience had this not been the case. The funniest thing that sticks out for me during the year, was when our favourite bearded German managed to write off a UCD van. It was the training weekend for varsities and UCDCC had finally rolled up to the Clydagh River after about 2 hours of wandering aimlessly and asking directions from toothless old locals. We were all set and ready to go, just waiting for the car drop. Suddenly, we get a call to go rescue the van from a ditch. Multiple phone calls and a broken rear suspension later, we waited for the UCD recovery van to arrive. Just our luck, we managed to get this stuck in the ditch too! About 3 hours later, all was well and the van was on the back of the recovery vehicle on the way back to Dublin! At the time, the whole experience was quite stressful but looking back it was one of the highlights of the year for me! 2016 was a good year for the club, but maybe I am a bit biased! We managed to set up regular polo training every Wednesday with the amazing Matt Flood who coached both beginners and seasonal polo players alike. In terms of training, a regular Paddle Fit session was introduced on Friday evenings by our very own Simon Grennell. This was a major hit! Competition wise, we didn’t do too badly either! In DCPL we managed to sneak into 2nd place div 3A, our best result in the last three years! Then varsities was a success overall, with 4th place. We managed to come second to DCU in the final of the polo and also managed to grab 2nd place in the slalom event, beating UL. The Freestyle this year was one of our best freestyle placings in years! We also managed to place in the medal rankings in a good few long distance races. The highlight for the club at this year’s varsities however, was Niall Finch winning the Colm Johnson cup for embodying the spirit of varsities! The ball was a huge success, being the 21st anniversary with a huge turnout. The year as a whole was a fantastic experience with a phenomenal member retention from the previous year and a good few new members also. The trips, although not completely smooth (may have been a trailer left in Bundoran for a while, but who knows), were as epic and fun filled as usual! Overall, it was a fantastic experience that I wouldn’t change. That being said, I don’t think I would do it for a second year if you paid me, once was enough!" (Captaincy 2015/16) - Ailbhe Tuohy
"One can easily say that a member who has worked the hardest in and for the club is the best recipient of the Dee Cup. From the description of the cup itself, I feel that this is the wrong way to view it entirely. My aim once I was given the committee position of Training Officer was not to work hard to make the club better. That is statement you’d expect to hear out of a politicians mouth, and I’m no politician. No, I am a Disco Paddler and I just wanted to enjoy myself as much as I did as the year before. In fact, I wanted to make the amazing experiences of my year in this club just a smidge better. All my efforts to do so would revolve around one major part of the club: the people. My first year with the club was amazing, not in that I went kayaking in incredible places, but that I went there with incredible people. My biggest regret in first year was that I didn’t spend enough time with the canoe club. So my aim then for the year was to get people together more often. Mission accomplished I’d say.The last year was most definitely more enjoyable than the first. I got to spend so much more time with the club. More time training in the pool, on the river and in the gym. All this time spent together also gave me the opportunity to do some… eh … other convincing… (Doyle’s anyone :D). I definitely wouldn’t have changed a thing in the year gone… except maybe finding another way to spend more time with you guys." (Dee cup winner 2016) - Simon Grennell
"If this were my acceptance speech, I’d have to dedicate my Fresher of the Year Award to Ailbhe Touhy. If it were not for that woman’s constant insistence that I become an infamous “paddler”, I would not be here today. I succumbed to her requests / joined the canoe club in my 2nd year in UCD. I quickly got to know my fellow paddlers and my enthusiasm and love of the club grew. I will admit however that despite my best efforts, for much of my fresher year, my appearances came under the category of “social paddling”. Once again, persistent encouragement from some of the friendliest and genuine people I’ve ever met got me paddling for real. I’m a converted woman now, with my own not-so-little green creeker now and all! My hopes for this coming year are to put many a river under my belt, to be annoyingly friendly to everyone and anyone interested in the canoe club and to bombard peoples email inboxes." (FOTY 2015/16) - Muireann O'Shea
"I was awarded the Dee cup in 2015 by Captain Ross Kerrigan. It was only my second year in the club, so I was not expecting it at all! I suppose it was that year that I really started to pay more attention to the club and got involved quite a bit. I was treasurer so I had no choice but to stick around and get involved a bit more than I was in my first year. Look at what happened, I got hooked! Personally, I didn’t see much improvement in my paddling that year, but I suppose someone was watching! I was paddling most weekends, but mainly the Liffey and the Boyne, in fact I don’t think I made it onto the Annamoe until late second year or even my third year. My main focus was probably Canoe Polo. I was always into field sports so naturally I was drawn to the polo. I played in DCPL with the UCD Space Cadets and then the highlight was making it onto the varsities team. Overall, I still felt as if I didn’t kayak on a regular enough basis though. For this reason, I feel it was just being around more often and getting involved with the club that made the real difference. In first year I didn’t hang out with the kayakers nearly half as much as I should have. I was busy trying out different sports and to be honest, staying in and going to bed early most nights! Second year, I decided I was going to give the kayakers a go. Never looked back, they are the ultimate bad influence with a never ending “sesh train”! Had I not made that extra effort in second year, I don’t think I would have half as many friends as I do now. The people make it easy to get hooked on the sport. If it wasn’t for you guys (or if ye were utter dick heads), I don’t think I would have stuck with the kayaking." (Dee cup winner 2015/16) - Ailbhe Tuohy
"When I joined UCD Canoe Club I was overwhelmed by the friendships I made, good times I had but mostly my love of kayaking, even on those river trips where I swam four times. But mostly I want to say thank you to all the now great friends who took me out on those Sunday morning private trips. I'm sure you were delighted to see a slightly hungover fresher show up consistently at the boat house of a Sunday morning, waiting for a lift to whatever river ye were paddling that day. Thank you for taking the time to guide me down rivers harder than I was able for but rivers that turned me into the paddler I am today (Well, maybe the paddler I was a few years ago, as not much paddling goes on in my life today....but watch this space, there's a certain little man that's been getting me out in a boat again recently. I absolutely loved my year as Captain, and have to admit I may have partied a little bit too hard that year.....details are a little hazy!!! Every river trip was so much fun and I know I made an extra effort to get as many girls interested in paddling whitewater and freestyle as I possibly could. I even managed to get Aoife Belton in a boat and on more river trips than ever before :o) The Freshers Trip changed location to Carlow for the year, with more than a few Mr Hankies and Britney Spears' making an appearance at the fancy dress. I went to my first World Freestyle Champs in NZ in Dec '99 before ringing in the year 2000 in Kerry with the best people in the world!! I think that was also the Kerry we some how managed to convince Stephen and Suzzie to be together....and look at them now! Intervarsities were all the way up in Coleraine; that's one hell of a bus journey even without the assistance of the slowest bus driver on earth!! Needless to say we never made the polo (phew, we weren't much good at polo back then) But we did pretty well in the Whitewater and Long Distance events! The surf event in Portrush was cancelled but that didn't stop us having great craic on the beach, before convincing the bus driver to drive us home again!" (FOTY 1997/98; Captaincy 1999/2000) - Aisling Corkery
"I'm the first winner of the Lynhams trophy for Oldie of the Year or as it initially was member who provided most help during the year. I got it there was no trophy, it was a white cup I got presented with and I didn't see the actual trophy until I was presenting it to Cormac Lynch the next year. I was mid-drink when it was announced and was shocked, put on my jacket to look respectable and get up. I was speechless, which anyone who knows me is a rare thing. I was very drunk that night due to the fact that the small coffee cup never emptied. I also never forget the round of applause I received from my friends that night it was pretty cool." (Oldie of the Year 2004/05) - Kieran McKevitt
"My mum gave me a lift to my first pool session. I was late and she was worried I’d miss the group walking from the gates of Trinity to the pool in Seán McDermott street, and there was no way I’d find it on my own with my poor sense of direction and near absent knowledge of where anything was in town. We got to Trinity, saw a group of people with a few red paddles scattered between them and pulled into the bus lane. I had one last moment of thinking that maybe I wouldn’t go, then mum said to have fun and get out of the car before a bus came, and off I went. A few hours later I was in O’Neills pub chatting away with about 50 new friends I’d just made swimming lengths, doing capsize drills and playing exuberant games involving swimming through legs and crowdsurfing in swimming togs. That night I learned that there were busses than ran after 23:30, convinced my mum to let me get one home so that I could go to Doyles with everyone and signed up wholeheartedly to go to Dun Laoghaire that Saturday and Kells for Freshers’ weekend in a month’s time. In the year that followed I had bruises on my knees from the insides of the Seán McDermott street boats that never had time to heal before before the next pool session. I discovered that singing at the top of the weir with the other freshers made the wait to be called for your turn to go down less scary, especially if the song was from a Disney film. I spent hours trying to learn to roll and when I finally got it on a river trip in Wicklow I smiled all the way to the get off, even though it was January and the cold stung my teeth. That seems like a very long time ago now. It’s been a long while since I was in a boat and there are people I sang Disney songs with that I haven’t seen in years. But somehow that doesn’t make the friendships seem any further away or the adventures seem any less exciting. My only explanation is the same one I would have given when I was a fresher, for better or worse, the canoe club is family." (FOTY 2009/10) - Maryanne Doyle
"The oldies explained that we freshers were not allowed into Easkey Castle until the conditions were right for the "initiation ceremony". The "right conditions" turned out to be when it was pitch black and after returning from a protracted visit to the pub. Upon climbing through the gate and standing in the roofless space between the four tall walls, one Ms. Karen Vejsbjerg asks if she can borrow my headtorch. My naive fresher self hands it over without second thought. I'm served a blast of bright LED straight in the eyes and a "Right! Go find your way to the top!" I find myself completely dazzled, and suddenly and mysteriously all alone on the ground floor. The tops of the four walls way above me were lit with waving torches, and the friendliest of jeering taunts were drifting down to me. There followed a good ten minutes of me blindly feeling my way around the walls looking for I had no idea what. It was like getting stuck on a level in tomb raider. I won't spoil the mystery of how the secret way is found, but suffice to say finally I was feeling my way and climbing up through the dark labyrinth, before finally emerging out on top on the roof of Easkey Castle to be greeted with loud cheers and much proffered whiskey. The "Electric Picnic" sprawl of UCDCC and DUKC tents below us on one side, the North Atlantic Ocean and one of the country's best surf breaks on the other. Questionable initiation ceremonies and night time climbing adventures done right!" -(Easkey 2009) - Bill Corbett
"God, what can I say? There are so many shared memories, laughs and jokes among us that will always make me smile. I’m so grateful to have been a part of the club, to have met so many awesome people and made such strong friendships. It’s great how diverse the club is: so many different characters and personalities- all just letting their freak flags fly! For me, the best part was always that feeling of getting on some kick-ass water (after an intense nights boozing of course), having the absolute best time ever and just completely trusting that every person there has got your back. Whether it’s someone with the hot juice and jellies, the two poor sods chasing down the river after your boat or the poor fecker that’s got to ferry you over to the bank. A great bunch altogether!" - Nicola Monahan (2016)