Jennings to use narrow defeat as motivation

ROWING/WORLD CUP REGATTA: SINÉAD JENNINGS was looking forward yesterday to targeting gold at the World Championships in Linz, Austria, next month after being pipped for victory in the lightweight single scull final at the World Cup regatta in Poznan.

A scorching final 500 metres by Canada's Lindsay Jennerich snatched the gold medal from the Donegal woman on Saturday.

Jennings had a fast opening quarter and led for most of the race but was passed near the end by the fired-up Jennerich, who posted one minute 51.55 seconds for the last 500 metres.

"It's the first time it ever happened - that I've been rowed down," said Jennings, who felt the defeat would provide motivation in training between now and the World Championships in four weeks' time.

Derry's Orlagh Duddy finished a creditable fourth.

Jennings had been stridently critical of the Ireland head coach Harald Jahrling on Friday - saying he was wrong not to send her to the Olympic Qualifier that preceded the World Cup in Poznan - but she said yesterday she had apologised to him.

"I was so disappointed I wasn't going to the Olympics," she said, emotionally. "I was at the qualifier, I saw the single and was very upset. I would definitely have had a shot in the final, and anything could have happened.

"But I was wrong. Probably my biggest problem is that there is not a lightweight single at the Olympics, and it's not Harald's and it's not anyone else's (fault). It is so disappointing that my event is not there."

Since Jennings, now 31, won the World Championships in the lightweight single in 2001, she has repeatedly tried but failed to find a place in an Olympic-class boat.

But after taking the silver medal at the weekend, she was again relishing being back on the podium.

Jennings had made no secret of her wish to win the final after an imperious win in the semi-final early on Saturday.

Duddy, in contrast, had to battle to qualify. Her semi-final was won by Jennerich, but Duddy was involved in a three-way battle with Sweden's Karin Hoegberg and Denmark's Sine Christiansen for the other two A Final places.

Duddy overcame catching a crab with 500 metres to go to post third, with Hoegberg second.

The men's heavyweight four finished fifth in yesterday's B final - 11th overall - but this regatta was being used primarily as part of a trial to determine the personnel for this boat for the Olympics.

The Ireland crew had finished fifth and last in a fast repechage in testing conditions on Saturday. Yesterday they lost a battle for fourth with Britain's second boat.

Cormac Folan, who partnered James Wall, Alan Martin and Seán O'Neill, said they were "disappointed" with yesterday but had mixed results overall.

The heavyweight group, which includes Jonno Devlin and Seán Casey, will now go to St Moritz for a camp aimed at finding the fastest crew for Beijing.

Folan said the four who raced yesterday knew this combination was experimental.

"The main thing is to take what we've learned from the World Cup regattas and move forward," he said, adding it would be "heads down" from here to produce the best boat.

While Jennings and the four clearly benefited from the test, the wisdom of sending so big an Irish team to this late-season regatta must be questioned.

The results of the big group of lightweight single scullers were mixed: Niamh Ní Chéilleachair (11th overall); David Mannion - who had a good win in his C final - (13th); Liam Molloy (17th), and Orla Hayes (15th).

There were trials at the Monkstown regatta in Cork on Saturday, and teams for upcoming regattas, including the Home Internationals, will be named this week.