Banbridge student rows her boat for charity

Hannah Lavery, captain of the boat club, will lead her team in rowing the distance from Newry to Dublin - on rowing machines in the Quays shopping centre on February 4.

The students will take it in shifts to cover more than 400km in an eight-hour rowing marathon.

Hannah said it will be tough but the effort will be worth it for charity.

“Our winter training involves a lot of endurance work, so we thought this would be an interesting and different way to train,” she said. “We reckon that, if we start around 9am and take turns on the rowing machines, that each machine should rack up well over 100 kilometres.”

As well as raising funds for their club, the rowers hope to raise money for the Scanner Appeal at the Royal Belfast Hospital for the Sick Children.

Nigel Kearney of the Helping Hands charity, which is part of the scanner appeal, said, “Quite a few of the Queen’s athletes are medical and nursing students so they know only too well the importance of having our own scanner in the Children’s Hospital.

“As a regional centre, we provide care for children all over Northern Ireland, so I hope Newry will get behind these athletes and help them as they try to help us!”