Rowing: If you build it they will come. When the results of January's national ergometer tests were released yesterday, one name, long absent, stood out from the crowd. Serryth Colbert, who clocked an excellent 15 minutes 56.1 seconds, had returned to the fold.
Nineteen months ago Colbert stood on the bank at Henley and lambasted the Irish structures for heavyweights. The Galway man had just won the Thames Cup with his adopted club, Leander, and said he had chosen to join the elite British club because this was where he could achieve his aims. Would he come back into the Irish system? "What Irish system?" he asked.
A lot has changed since. Irish clubs had a terrific Henley last year - Colbert's Leander lost out to Commercial in the final of the men's quadruple sculls - and at a national level new structures have been put in place under performance director Richard Parr.
One of the key aims is to create heavyweight crews which can compete on the world stage, with Athens 2004 a priority.
At Henley 2002, Colbert's message had been echoed by Muckross man Sean Casey, who had reached the semi-final of the Diamond Sculls. Casey had been representing the Saugatuck club in Connecticut, but has now returned to Ireland. Yesterday his name stood at the top of the list of the five-kilometre erg scores, with a time of 15 minutes 45.5 seconds.
Splitting Casey and Colbert, who was placed third, was the substantial figure of Dave Kealy of Lady Elizabeth on 15:51.5. Sean Jacob of Commercial, who was the fastest man in the November 5k, was fifth fastest in the most recent test and still leads the points ladder. The January test saw Commercial's Albert Maher (ninth) and Niall O'Toole (19th) enter the system.
The next stages in the programme are a regatta in the National Rowing Centre in Cork (March 20th and 21st) and, for the successful few, the national trials at the same venue from March 27th to April 4th.
Crews chosen to represent Ireland are likely to go to the Munich World Cup regatta in May and, perhaps, the Olympic qualifier scheduled for Lucerne in June.
Dave Kealy and his Lady Elizabeth club mates have a more immediate concern in the shape of tomorrow's Lagan Head of the River. The Trinity old boys' senior eight have been placed first in the starting order, ahead of Lady Victoria, with whom they shared a keen rivalry last season - the Dublin club prevailed at both Henley and the National Championships.
The open eights section is completed by Trinity and Commercial crews. NUIG have entered an intermediate eight, taking on Queen's and Methodist College, Belfast.
