Hazards abound at Islandbridge

ROWING: Stadiums, giant stadiums, national stadiums - so much debate in sport recently has been about vast projects for play and for spectators. And yet what is surely the most used stretch of water in Irish rowing and in many ways the heart of the sport in this country is becoming overgrown in some spots with branches and weeds.

In the words of correspondence from Garda Boat Club seen by The Irish Times, the situation at Islandbridge in Dublin is now so bad it is dangerous and "it is only a matter of time until we have a tragedy on our hands".

All the big boat clubs in the city have their clubhouses along this stretch - the Trinity, Neptune and Commercial regattas are held there each year - and the clubs came together last year to try and organise the first proper cleaning up of the stretch since 1969.

But despite correspondence from both the clubs and the Irish Amateur Rowing Union with a whole range of bodies, from Dublin City Council to the Office of Public Works and the Department of the Environment, there seems to be some confusion over who owns the banks of the river and whose responsibility it is to maintain it, and while plans are apparently in the pipeline, precious little has been done.

Young rowers from all the clubs venture out on the water, and club sources have expressed worries that should a crew get into difficulty it might be impossible to rescue them quickly enough. The lack of lighting along the river, the sporadic presence of loose horses and the erection of a gate along the towpath at the entrance to the Memorial Park have all exacerbated the problems.

One of the ironies of the situation is that next month world lightweight single sculling champion Sam Lynch may again bring the country glory at the World Championships in Seville - having had to contend with such awful conditions for some of his training.

Lynch and some of the rest of the elite - including Tony O'Connor - have headed for the continent for training camps in the run-up to Seville, but this weekend the focus is on the World Student Games in Nottingham. Our men's open and lightweight four and lightweight single sculler Alison Downey must compete in today's repechages after yesterday's results, but the men's lightweight four will have a straight final.