ROWING: Olympic results aside, rowing people do not generally have big heads - except at this time of the year. Tomorrow's offering in the impressive schedule of time-trial events is the St Michael's Head of the River at O'Brien's Bridge in Co Clare, which has an entry of 500 crews.

Worries about the high level of the water on the Shannon have abated over the last few days, according to the organisers.

Galway oarsman Danny O'Dowd, who was presented with his World University Games bronze medal on Wednesday, is one of the 20 entries in the men's senior single scull. With Olympian Eugene Coakley and his Skibbereen international team-mate Tim Harnedy also involved the standard may be high.

NUIG come out to play tomorrow and should carry off the main prizes in the bigger boats. They have two entries in the men's senior eights, where their main competition might be a St Michael's/Trinity/Lady Elizabeth composite - the victors in last weekend's Dublin head, but likely to be weakened by the absence of Coakley and Sam Lynch.

The entry of Sinead Jennings - in her second competitive outing in a St Michael's singlet - Caroline Ryan and Orla Hayes in the women's senior single gives it a quality look.

The men's junior single boasts one of Ireland's best young athletes in Neptune's Paul O'Brien, whose performance in recent national ergometer tests was remarkable.

His main competition should come from the crop of young scullers from Commercial, a club lightly represented otherwise.

Commercial's best-known oarsman, Niall O'Toole, will not be present at the national camp for seniors in Cork which begins this day week, but says he is fully committed to the Irish cause for the season ahead.

O'Toole, who will be 35 in May, says he has been "very impressed" by new national coach Harald Jahrling and wants to be part of the new structures.

"I'm up for it this year. A World Championship medal would be great," he says.

Jahrling, as befits someone whose most recent base was the vast Australian continent, has made light of travelling through the country.

He watched the Dublin head last weekend and is set to be at O'Brien's Bridge tomorrow.