Irish in Action:Ger Owens and Scott Flanigan endured a rough start to their Olympic campaign this afternoon, when finishing 18th and 25th in the first two races at Weymouth to lie 23rd of 27 heading into tomorrow.
It wasn't an ideal start for the pair but Irish Sailing Association (ISA) performance director James O’Callaghan insists there's a long way to go.
“The guys were delighted to finally get out on the water today," said Callaghan. "It’s only day one for them so there’ll be plenty more sailing during the week. Ger is an experienced Olympian so this is a great way for Scott to get his introduction to the Games.”
The 49er crew of Ryan Seaton and Matt McGoverntackle tomorrow's three races (1.30pm, 2.15pm and 3pm) from ninth place overall, after finishing 11th and ninth in today's two races.
With seven races remaining, they are still capable of bridging the gap on leaders Australia.
“Ryan and Matt have been sailing flat out for four days and they’ve remained within the top 10 every day. They’re sailing really well and are intent on keeping it that way”, said O’Callaghan.
The Cork duo of Peter O'Leary and David Burrowswere disqualified from Race 7 and finished ninth in Race 8 of the Men's Star to sit ninth overall on 57 points, 44 off the net total of leaders Britain.
They had a strong start to their first race of the day and were fourth by the second mark but dropped back to ninth before a dispute with Denmark went the way of their opponents and the Irish boat incurred 17 points rather than the nine their place would have usually merited.
The final two fleet races take place tomorrow before the top 10 progress to the double points medal race on Sunday.
Barry Murphywill not progress to the semi-finals of the 50 metres freestyle after a underwhelming swim of 22.76 seconds this morning. The time may have been good enough to take second in his heat but was well off the pace required to advance to the last 16.
Murphy had been hoping to post a personal best to round of a campaign that failed to live up to expectations but was well outside his Irish record of 22.14. The 26-year-old had also been disappointed with his performance in his favoured event, the 100m breaststroke, earlier in these Olympics.
“Thank you to everyone for the overwhelming support,” Murphy tweeted afterwards. “Very humbling. Unfortunately, I didn't perform to the best of my ability. Gutted."
Melanie Nocherseemed to have a problem as she finished seventh in her heats of the 200 metres backstroke in a sluggish time of 2:16.29. The Holywood swimmer was visibly upset after her race after clocking a time way outside her personal best.
Nocher declined to speak to the media after her event but took to Twitter to explained that she had been poorly since the weekend.
“Well I gave it my best have had gastro intensitis since sunday so have been feeling anything but good, least I can say I gave it my all,” she explained.
“We are obviously disappointed with Melanie’s swim, she did a 2:10 seven weeks ago and we were hoping that if she did that time here it would carry her through to a semi-final,” Peter Banks, national performance director of Swim Ireland said afterwards.
“She has had an upset stomach the last day or so, we are upset for her and the outcome of her race.
Reflecting on a difficult week in which only Sycerika McMahon swam to her potential, Banks added: “On the whole, we went with four ‘A’ standards and had high expectations for all of these swimmers. It’s been a learning curve for us, we had hoped to turn the ‘A’ times into good performances at the Games but I know we still have a job to do”.
Over at Eton Dorney, Sanita Puspurestormed into the 'C' final of the women's single sculls as she won her semi-final with ease. The Latvian born Irish rower, our only athlete in action on the rowing lake, was a full 10 seconds ahead of her nearest challenger.
Puspure will now finish the regatta on Saturday morning.
Anna Merveldtwas absolutely delighted with her performance in the individual dressage, not least because she and her horse Coryolano were forced to put up with a cloudburst at Greenwich Park. Merveldt scored 69.742 per cent, a result that leaves her seventh overall. The top 11 riders not already qualified for the team event progress to the Grand Prix stage of the discipline later in the week.
Irish Schedule
9.30am: Rowing
It’s not the race she wanted to be in, but Sanita Puspure contests the C/D semi-final at Eton Dorney. There’s little more than pride at stake but the single sculler will still want to finish as high as possible.
10am: Swimming
Barry Murphy, who left the pool disappointed after his opening swim last Saturday, rounds off his campaign in the 50m freestyle. Posting a personal best will be an achievement.
11.30am: Swimming
Having limbered up in the 100m backstroke earlier in the week, Melanie Nocher (24) goes in her favoured 200m backstroke this morning. She might represent Ireland’s last hope in the pool after Gráinne Murphy pulled out of this morning’s 800m freestyle heats.
From noon: Sailing
Having taken a back seat so far this week, the men’s 470 duo of Scott Flanigan and Ger Owens get their regatta started at midday. The surprise package of the sailing team are out at midday and back on the water at Weymouth at 1.30pm.
After slipping to ninth following some average results yesterday, Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern can ill afford any more slip-ups as their series of races reaches the midway point. Race seven is under way at noon, with the eighth race due off at 12.45pm.
With just four races to go, David Burrows and Peter O’Leary need to climb the leaderboard if they hope to challenge for a medal on Sunday. The Cork sailors have their seventh (12.05pm) and eighth (1.20pm) races this afternoon.
1.25pm: Equestrian
Anna Merveldt, Ireland’s only competitor in the individual dressage, will put Coryolano through its paces this afternoon. Merveldt (49), is no stranger to the big occasion – she reached an Olympic final in 1992. She needs to finish in the top 11 to guarantee a place in the Grand Prix Special.
1.30pm: Canoeing
If she was in any doubt just how fine the margins between success and failure are, Hannah Craig need look no further than Eoin Rheinisch yesterday. Craig will have to be at her very best to advance to the final later today.
2.45pm: Boxing
Irish team captain Darren O’Neill finds Germany’s Stefan Hartel blocking his path to a place in the quarter-finals. Hartel may be ranked 30 places lower than the Kilkenny middleweight but was impressive in the first round.