News

ICUPS 2025 News: event

Posted On 24th Apr 2025
Posted By Kayak
Author Holly Ogilvie (Polo Officer)
Location Let's Go Hydro, Belfast

The 2025 Irish College and University Polo Festival was a great weekend for UL kayak Club. ULKC entered six teams in total, two women’s teams, three teams in the open division and one freshers' team. A total of 25 club members took part in the two-day competition held in Belfast.

Saturday kicked off bright and early with team captains attending a 9 a.m. briefing. By 10:00 a.m., everyone was geared up and ready for the first matches. Our freshers were first on the water, opening with a draw against TUD. They followed up with two strong wins, securing a solid place in Sunday’s knockout rounds. In the open division, results varied across our three teams: Group A: Two wins, and one loss saw the team finish second, advancing to the Gold League. Group B: One win and two losses placed the team third in their group. Group D: A win, a draw, and a loss also led to a third-place group finish. Both of our women's teams played hard-fought matches but were narrowly defeated in their group games.

Sunday we were into the knockout stages. The women’s quarterfinals were first up, but both teams were knocked out by strong opposition. Our freshers were up next with their quarter final, a decisive 5-0 win over Trinity saw them progress to the semifinals. In the Silver League, both open teams performed brilliantly in their quarterfinals and advanced to the semis. Meanwhile, our Gold League team put up a good fight, but TUD got the better of them. The semifinals brought more exciting action, freshers were up first against UCD. In a close game our freshers were victorious with a 2-0 win, earning their spot in the final. In the Silver League, one ULKC team advanced to the final while the other narrowly missed out. The finals were the highlight of the Weekend. Our freshers put on an amazing performance to secure a 6-2 win in their final. Shortly after, the Silver League final saw an intense 3-2 win over Trinity, giving ULKC another first place finish.

With a fantastic weekend coming to an end ULKC headed home with 1st place in freshers, 1 st and 4th in silver open, 5th in gold open and 5th in women's as well. It was a brilliant weekend full of great paddling, team spirit, and strong results. Huge congratulations to everyone involved!

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