Positives outweigh the negatives

In ways it appeared like the best of years and the worst of years for rowing in Ireland - so many positive indicators all seemed to set the stage for the coup de grace of an Olympic medal or at least an Olympic final placing for the men's lightweight four. When this did not come the disappointment among ordinary rowing people was intense, and the gloom seemed to hang over any assessment of the whole year.

And yet, when delegates gather for the annual general meeting of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union in Galway on Saturday the mood may be generally upbeat: much of what has happened in the last 12 months has been heading in the right direction. And one of the ironies of the Olympic Games is that they may end up boosting the image of the sport here and drawing youngsters to it - because of the highly-publicised performance of a Briton, Steve Redgrave.

As for the performance of the Irish lightweight four, the reason for the lack of success in Sydney may be the very one that was possible to perceive at last year's a.g.m. - peaking for a qualification regatta in the middle of the year is no preparation for Olympics only a matter of months later.

"The crew gave of their very best and their final result doesn't do justice to their effort and ability," is the considered view of international team manager Mick O'Callaghan in his report to the a.g.m.

O'Callaghan also says, in his report as chairman of the international rowing committee: "Yes we are disappointed for Neville (Maxwell), Neal (Byrne), Gearoid (Towey) and Tony (O'Connor), who qualified so well for Sydney and saw their form desert them in Pentrith. We are very, very proud of them and all our athletes who rowed for Ireland in 2000 and ensured that we were able to meet and surpass most of our targets."

The point is well made in a year in which Sam Lynch and Sinead Jennings won silver and bronze respectively at the World Championships, the under-23 lightweight four won bronze at the Nations Cup, the unofficial world championships for this age-group, and both the home internationals and Coupe de la Jeunesse, a European junior championships, yielded multiple medal wins.

One of the controversies of the year, which may be given an airing, was the selection procedure for some of the crews for international competitions. Men's convenor Sebastiaan Peeters acknowledges as much, but offers some hope for the future: "I am fully aware that we did not get all the answers right, but we made progress towards a transparent system that all those involved in could have faith in."

On the hoary old problem of developing a domestic regatta and head of the river programme which bears some relation to logic and common sense, progress may also be in the offing. The unofficial discussion meeting in Dublin last week has, it is believed, moved closer to formulating a programme which will serve the needs of both clubs and elite athletes. And the executive of the union should be more responsive to athletes' interests with Maxwell's presence as Leinster representative for the year ahead.

The appointment of Frank Tierney as chief executive of the rowing union may also in time be seen as a reason to mark down 2000 as a special year: on three of the key challenges facing the association the former financial controller of the GAA has already begun to develop strategies - sponsorship, coaching (where he favours national coaches at international and domestic level) and media relations, where he has begun to try and win over the national and regional media.

The secretary of the IARU, Jimmy Bermingham, makes the extraordinary assertion about Tierney that "I have no doubt but that Frank will consolidate the effective running of our sport and turn a mundane organisation run by amateurs into an ultra-efficient operation run by professionals."

High praise indeed - and something for Saturday's delegates to chew on!