Lambe and McCrohan are out of Olympic Qualifier

ROWING:THE CREW which was Ireland's best hope of qualifying a boat for the London Olympics will not now be taking part in next month's Olympic Qualifier.

The lightweight women’s double of Claire Lambe and Siobhán McCrohan were due to compete in the Memorial Paolo D’Aloja international regatta in Piediluco in Italy which starts today but have been withdrawn.

“There is a consistent weight management issue in this crew,” said Ireland performance director Martin McElroy.

The crew struggled last year as McCrohan found it difficult to make the weight. A crew member can compete at up to 59kg, while the average weight in the boat cannot exceed 57kg.

The lightweight men’s double of Niall Kenny and Mark O’Donovan, who hope to qualify their boat at the Olympic Qualifier in Lucerne, are set to compete this weekend. Ireland may also have a women’s heavyweight boat at the Qualifier, and Sanita Puspure competes in the single scull in Piediluco.

Lightweight single scullers Michael Maher and Justin Ryan complete the Ireland team.

Back in Ireland, two of the biggest regattas of the year will energise the National Rowing Centre in Cork tomorrow and Sunday.

The entry 0f 560 crews for Skibbereen regatta on Sunday is one of the biggest ever for an Irish event.

The regatta is the first round of the eFlow Go Row League, with the other rounds coming up at the Queen’s University regatta (April 28th), Dublin Metropolitan (May 26th) and Cork (June 23rd).

The league has been a hit with rowers from its inception two years ago. Two crucial innovations have been grouping crews according to speed – Division One, for example, gives athletes in under-23, intermediate, junior and lightweight grades a shot at full seniors, which has made for some cracking races – and time trials to determine who goes where in the races. The latter part has not always worked well, and participants will hope this year will have less hitches. The presence of a new sponsor in eFlow gives the leagues a shot in the arm – and handsome funding.

The men’s senior eights sees a match-up which has been rare outside the National Championships and Henley Royal Regatta in recent years: Gráinne Mhaol of Galway take on Queen’s University, who have a new head coach, Mick Desmond. Cork Boat Club are also entered in this grade.

Competition among the top eights in women’s Division One should also been keen. The national senior eights champions, UCD, face senior eights from NUIG and a combination of St Michael’s and University of Limerick – and under-23 eights from Trinity and Skibbereen.

For UCD, Trinity and NUIG it will be a second straight final in two days. All three are set to compete in the Irish University Championships tomorrow, where they will also face Queen’s in the penultimate race of a packed programme, which also includes the Irish Schools’ Championships.

The final race, which often determines the winners of the Wiley Cup, is a straight final of the men’s senior eights. Trinity, NUIG and Queen’s take on the reigning national champions, UCD.