Michelle Carpenter appointed chief executive of Rowing Ireland

Michelle Carpenter has been chosen as the chief executive of Rowing Ireland.

"I am honoured to be given this role in a sport I have been involved with for 30 years," said the Limerick woman.

Carpenter played a major role in developing the successful Get Going Get Rowing programme. In 2017 the number of young people involved was 25,000.

She joined Shannon Rowing Club in 1987 – the first year women were allowed to do this – and represented Ireland as a junior. She also rowed with Commercial in Dublin.

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She worked with the European Court of Human Rights and in the launch of the Euro on the continent, before returning to Ireland at the beginning of this century.

Asked about her aims as new CEO, she told The Irish Times: "I want to develop clubs. Clubs are struggling. Volunteers are working themselves to the bone."

Carpenter succeeds Hamish Adams, who spent five years in the role.

The New Zealander was based at the National Rowing Centre (NRC) in Cork, but Carpenter has been Dublin-based and spoke of Abbottstown as the "hub of Irish sport".

The issue of where she will be located “still has to be fine-tuned by the board [of Rowing Ireland]” she said.

This is a big year for rowing in Ireland as both the Coupe de la Jeunesse, a major European tournament for juniors, and the Home International Regatta will be held at the NRC.

They will follow on the weekends after the Irish Championships in mid-July and form what Rowing Ireland is calling a Festival of Rowing.