Watersports Inclusion Games held in Cavan over the weekend

Ramor Watersports Club and Lakeside Manor Hotel played host to the Watersports Inclusion Games last weekend in what was a historic occasion for the club and county as it marked the first time the games were held in County Cavan.

Thousands flocked to the shores of Lough Ramor just outside Virginia to both witness and participate in a variety of events over the two days, June 22 and 23. They came from all over Ireland, as well as countries such as France and Germany.

Launched in 2017, the Watersports Inclusion Games is a national event that aims to make watersports more inclusive and accessible for all.

With funding provided by Sport Ireland, this year's Watersports Inclusion Games are organised by Irish Sailing, in association with Canoeing Ireland and Cavan Local Sports Partnership, along with Ramor Watersports Club and Sailability Ireland. A host of events were experienced by the participants over the weekend both on the water and onshore that included: waterskiing, paddleboarding, canoeing, dragon boating, powerboating, fast boat rides, wheelchair accessible boats, sailing, radio controlled boats.

The Lady Amanda Accessible Boat was also used to give tours of the wonderful Lough Ramor. The onshore experience included accessible rugby, sensory bus and face painting.

In glorious weather conditions, some 4,000 individual water experiences were enjoyed by the 523 participants, as well as a further 3,060 onshore experiences.

The games were officially launched on Saturday with a cutting of a ribbon by Zoe Mulvey, the Ambassador for the event and Cllr T.P. O’Reilly, Cathaoirleach, Cavan County Council. According to organisers, the event was over eight months in the planning.

John Wilson, project manager on behalf of Ramor Watersports Club, thanked the army of 278 volunteers and all other organisations involved in making the event such a huge success.

Speaking at the event Irish Sailing President and 11-time Paralympian John Twomey said: “What a superb venue to run our Watersports Inclusion Games. It is events such as this that will help to inspire people of all abilities to take part in watersports activities and perhaps even one day compete for Ireland in Paralympic sport. I thank Ramor Watersports Club for the professional approach to organising the event, to the hordes of volunteers who gave up their time over the two-day event, and of course to the hundreds of participants who travelled to County Cavan from the four corners of Ireland to take part."

Deputy Niamh Smyth (FF), chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Sport, attended the event and said that she was "very impressed with the calm atmosphere and smiles on everyone’s faces - participants and volunteers alike".

The organisers also want to thank the many sponsors for the event, without whom they said it would not have been possible in particular the Lakeside Manor Hotel owners, Farrell & Meabh Brady, and their staff who allowed their premises be taken over and used for the event.

Those responsible for health and safety at the event came in for particular mention. This aspect was managed by Philip Scallan, Event director Irish Sailing; John Wilson, project manager, Ramor Watersports Club and David Brouder, On-Water Event safety officer.