Great racing and impressive results as Paddlers tackle the Liffey Descent

The 2025 Liffey Descent was held at the weekend and delivered a great day’s racing - along with some impressive results - for the Thomastown Paddlers Canoe Club.

The 64th edition of the iconic race traced the traditional route from the K Club in Straffan, Co Kildare along 30km of the River Liffey to finish at the Garda Boat Club in Islandbridge, Co Dublin.

The race was rescheduled from an earlier date due to ESB works at the Golden Falls dam. With water levels lower than expected, the race brought different kinds of challenges in how best to navigate the 10 weirs along the way.

This year gave some record pile ups at Straffan weir, only a few hundred meters from the start line, where a large crowd lined the bridge and encouraged arriving boats as they had to quickly respond to the scenes in front of them. It’s always an exciting day for those following the event, with many support crews trying to stay ahead of the race, to reach Leixlip dam for the portage section or to set up at some of the main vantage points along the way.

Thomastown Paddlers were well represented across several divisions and took home a number of medals.

Senan Forristal finished second in the Senior Men’s K1, narrowly missing out on first spot to reigning champion Tom Brennan by a single second. The pair were close throughout the race, but it came down to a head to head sprint finish at the last.

Low water levels meant less opportunity to make gains on the weir sections of the race along with a tough flatwater stretch from Chapelizod to the finish line.

In the same division, Cathal Treacy narrowly missed out on the podium for TPCC finishing in fourth place, with Mickie Brennan close behind in sixth.

In Masters K1 O40, Donnacha Brennan took home the gold medal, with a strong performance from start to finish.

There were some fantastic results too in the Junior Men’s K1 with podium positions for both TJ Brennan and John Walpole who were competing in their first Liffey Descent, TJ finishing second and John third. Both had the experience of many Junior Liffey Races behind them, however the 30km Liffey Descent is a true test of endurance.

In Masters 050s Stefan Green finished in fifth place, and Brendan Sheehan was 11th. The experienced crew of Dave McCormack, Dave Comerford and Jonathan Barry finished first in the K3 division, in what proved to be difficult race conditions for boats of this category.

The Paddlers had only one K2 competing in this years Liffey Descent. The father and son duo of Dermot and Anthony Forristal teamed up again this year and finished in a respectable 12th place.

Well done to all paddlers who took part in a great competition. A number of the club’s younger members were also up at the race, supporting their Thomastown clubmates and taking in the experience.

The final domestic kayak race here in Ireland for 2025 is on Sunday in Galway. Further afield, a group of six members from the Thomastown Paddlers will travel to race the International Ardeche Marathon in France on November 8