Two new heavyweight Irish rowing crews for Lucerne

Two new heavyweight crews come into the picture for the Ireland team for the final World Cup Regatta at Lucerne in Switzerland next weekend (July 13th to 15th).

The men’s lightweight double of Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan and single sculler Sanita Puspure will lead the team, having won medals at the first World Cup in Belgrade.

Patrick Boomer and Andy Harrington will compete as a heavyweight pair alongside Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan, who represented Ireland at Belgrade.

Philip Doyle will compete in the single sculls. The Queen’s University man partnered Ronan Byrne in the double at London Metropolitan Regatta, but it is understood Byrne wishes to compete at the Irish Championships, which are directly in opposition to Lucerne.

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Denise Walsh, who competed in a lightweight double with Margaret Cremen in Belgrade, will also miss Lucerne and compete in the Championships.

The women’s heavyweight double of Monika Dukarska and Aileen Crowley are again picked for Lucerne, but a women’s pair or four has to be finalised. Natalie Long and Tara Hanlon will be tested along with Emily Hegarty and Aifric Keogh - who competed as a pair in Belgrade - to determine the crew for Lucerne.

Ireland high performance director Antonio Maurogiovanni said the timing of the trial this weekend had to do with giving some of the women space to complete exams and college commitments. Asked if he was happy with the team being completed just a week before the event he said: “If I’m announcing the week before I’m happy.”

The Ireland junior teams for the Home International Regatta and the Coupe de la Jeunesse, both of which will be held in Ireland in July, have also been named. It could be quite a season, with Hazel O’Neill and Ruth Morris adding to the successes with a win at Henley Women’s Regatta. NUIG reached the final of the Development coxed four.

On the evidence of action at Cork Regatta the strength of underage rowing is remarkable. This should be on show again at Fermoy Regatta on Sunday. The entry was so big that many events had to be cut- and the regatta remains huge. It starts at 8.0 and finishes 211 races later at 6.30 pm.