November is turning out to be a busy month in Irish rowing. The Fisa World Coaches Conference drew the best mentors in the sport to Limerick last weekend, and the action switches north with the Bann head of the river next weekend and the first National Assessment of the new Olympiad in Newry a week later.

The Neptune head at Blessington tomorrow has a good entry of 117 crews in the first head (time trial) at 11am and 211 in the second at 2pm. Senior eights from Trinity and St Michael’s aim to be the fastest crews on the water, and both are entered in the two heads. The entry of the veteran Albert Maher could shake up the senior single sculls. He had been inactive in Ireland in recent years because of work commitments, but he finished second in the Dublin Sculling Ladder last month.

Entries for the National Assessment will also be closely watched, as it is the first step of the new programme which HPD Morten Espersen will take over next year. It is understood that Siobhán McCrohan will enter. The Galway woman impressed at this stage last year, but with a bid for an Olympic place in prospect she was effectively cut from the system later in the season due to worries about making the weight.

A proposed revamp of the lightweight rules for international events would make each athlete responsible for making a specific weight rather than averaging weight over a crew.

The plan, which could be adopted at the rule-change congress of world governing body Fisa early next year, provoked hot debates at the World Coaches Conference, with many coaches speaking against it.