McCrohan takes single sculls title

ROWING:SIOBHÁN McCROHAN, a single-minded athlete who moved from her native Galway to Cork to train full-time at the National Rowing Centre, confirmed the benefit of the move when she won the single sculls title at the National Trials at the NRC on Saturday.

The 23-year-old lightweight took control of the A Final in the third quarter and confidently held off the late challenge of heavyweight rival Lisa Dilleen.

Claire Lambe’s third place gave the under-23 lightweight a rating of 93.5 per cent of projected world gold medal winning time in her grade. The selectors now have the task of deciding how to balance the chance of medalling at the World Under-23 Championships – another under-23 athlete, Sarah Dolan, finished fifth in the final – with the desire to gain Olympic qualification for the lightweight double at this year’s World Championships.

Last year Lambe and McCrohan teamed up to form a successful lightweight double which made World Cup and European Championship A Finals.

Sanita Puspure, the top heavyweight in recent seasons, could not compete because of a back injury. Ireland head coach Adrian Cassidy said that she will be entered at Essen regatta next month and assessed there.

The men’s single scull final was won by Mark O’Donovan, who led in Michael Maher, Niall Kenny and Justin Ryan – the three men who joined him in the lightweight quadruple scull which took silver at the World Under-23 Championships last year. O’Donovan and Maher have now moved up to senior.

Remarkably, Skibbereen 16-year-old Paul O’Donovan was a close-up fifth. And in the women’s single scull, Holly Nixon (17) of Portora was an impressive winner of the B Final, while Bann’s junior crew of Joel Cassells and Chris Black won the men’s pair.

Meanwhile, at the Trinity regatta on Saturday, the host club won the senior eight, beating Galway rowing club in in the final. The western club won the senior fours.