ROWING:WITH OVER 300 crews from 63 nations, the World Under-23 Championships is a monster regatta – and unpredictable. A new range of talent sweeps through each year, and with no seeding as a guide, it is a pinsticker's dream.
Take yesterday’s first heat of the women’s single sculls at this year’s championships at the Bosbaan course in Amsterdam. The world champion at this level, Donata Vistartaite, is the clear favourite, and Ireland’s Lisa Dilleen (who finished ninth last year) is tipped for the two direct qualification places for the semi-finals.
However, Iskra Angelova of Azerbaijan has other ideas. She takes off like she is being chased by sharks, and holds off Vistartaite to win. Both qualify. Behind them Dilleen and Nataliya Dovgodko of the Ukraine fill the next two spots through most of the race.
In a vain hope of taking second, the Ukrainian charges near the finish but Dilleen holds fire and paddles home in fourth.
Dilleen will contest today’s repechage (11.42 Irish time) where three of five will go through to the semi-finals. Ireland performance director Martin McElroy is sanguine about the Galway woman’s chances as the week goes on.
“Last year Lisa played a good game, in that she figured out where she was and made sure she made her way through,” he said.
The lightweight women’s double of Sarah Dolan and Claire Lambe were fourth and must also race in a repechage today. A push late in the race was not enough to gain one of the three qualification places which went to Germany, Austria and Canada. This was disappointing for Lambe and Dolan, who finished eighth last year.
“They were a bit sluggish off the start and, realistically, it’s probably not far off where they are at the moment,” said McElroy.
Jonathan Mitchell, on his debut at these championships, moved into today’s quarter-finals of the lightweight single scull by finishing third in his heat.
Back home, the dispute over the disqualification of UCD from the men’s intermediate eight semi-finals at the recent National Rowing Championships has not been resolved.
The club has launched an official objection with Rowing Ireland and still believe the fairest way forward would have been to let their boat row in the final under protest.
The ruling of the regatta committee went the other direction, and UCD bowman Conor Walsh, who waited around for nearly two months to race in this event, ended up with no race at all.
It was a championships with a great spread in the winning clubs and some striking images and sounds: Monika Dukarska, alone and shivering, standing looking out at the choppy waters which had engulfed her so close to glory in the women’s single scull; the “number plate” commentary of Dermot Henihan; the visceral roar from the stand as the young eights from St Joseph’s and Bann fought for primacy in the junior 18A final.
Quibbles? The programme gave wrong information on the racing for Friday and Saturday; a commentary all the way to the finish would have greatly improved the experience for spectators. And why was there an announcement on Saturday that the programme would now continue as planned . . . as the winds howled (perhaps it was the gods laughing!).
The rise of junior rowing was very evident last weekend. An Ireland team will compete at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Austria next weekend, and Paul O’Donovan and Holly Nixon will compete in the World Junior Championships at Dorney Lake the following week. Before those events, for both junior and senior club rowers is the Home International Regatta, in Strathclyde, Scotland, tomorrow.
World Under-23 Championships
Amsterdam, Day Two
(Irish interest)
MENLightweight Single Scull – Heat Six (First Three to Quarter-Finals): 1 Germany (R Acht) 7:47.10, 2 Sweden (O Russberg) 7:53.46, 3 Ireland (J Mitchell) 7:59.95; 4 Chile 8:03.41
WOMENLightweight Double Scull – Heat Two (First three directly to A/B semi-finals; rest to repechage): 1 Germany 7:34.87, 2 Austria 7:36.35, 3 Canada 7:38.95; 4 Ireland (S Dolan, C Lambe) 7:40.72, 5 Tunisia 8:32.32.
Single Scull – Heat One (First two directly to A/B semi-finals; rest to repechage): 1 Azerbaijan (I Angelova) 8:08.90, 2 Lithuania (D Vistartaite) 8:10.42; 3 Ukraine 8:12.24, 4 Ireland (L Dilleen) 8:21.09, 5 Netherlands 8:26.54, 6 Denmark 8:41.31.
