Dilleen strikes gold at Munich regatta

ROWING:IRELAND'S LISA Dilleen had a spectacularly successful weekend, winning two gold medals at the Munich junior regatta, the premier event at this level outside the World Championships. The Galway woman won the single scull on Saturday and teamed up with Laura D'Urso of City of Derry to form by far the fastest double scull yesterday.

The Irish contingent at the huge Ghent regatta in Belgium also landed some big prizes: Commercial won the senior men’s eight on Saturday, and fine third places for the club in the women’s junior eight and women’s four led to them being named the club of the day at the event.

Saturday’s win was a breakthrough for Dilleen. She came through a fight-out in the closing stages against fancied British athlete Rachael Gamble-Flint with flying colours, and won by five seconds. It was a new experience for an athlete who won the junior trials in Ireland by a street. “That was a serious bit of racing,” said her coach, Gearóid Mitchell. “She hasn’t had to race like that – ever.”

Dilleen and D’Urso, who was rested on Saturday, had an even bigger winning margin yesterday. Under the regatta format the fastest double over two heats was the winner, and the Tribesmen/City of Derry composite beat second-placed Sandra Kuchle and Jenny Medow of Germany by 12.62 seconds in the first, and fastest, of the two races.

Ireland head coach Adrian Cassidy and performance director Martin McElroy will play the crucial part in determing whether the single or double goes to the World Championships in August.

The second day at Ghent yesterday was not quite as garlanded in success for the Irish as the first. Skibbereen’s Paul O’Donovan won the men’s junior 16 single scull – topping a field of 47 competitors – and there were also wins for Belfast in the senior women’s pair and Heather Campbell in the lightweight single scull.

Trinity mastered their only rivals, Oxford Brookes, in the Senior B (under-23) eight, but Commercial’s win over the same opponents in the senior eight was not repeated. Henley were the first crew home, with Oxford Brookes taking second and Commercial third.