Rowing/ IARU agm: A heated row, sparked by the lack of a report by the International Rowing Committee (IRC), lit up the annual general meeting of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union in Dublin on Saturday.
The chairman of the IRC, John McGeehan, said that the comprehensive report produced by national coach Harald Jahrling and his assistant Debbie Fox covered the areas traditionally dealt with in his own committee's posting.
However, Mike Heskin, the junior men's convenor (manager) for the Union, said it was unacceptable that the committee responsible for the biggest budget had not reported. "International rowing is run by a small clique who have no reported criteria for appointing team managers," Heskin said. He said managers were given no booklet to go by, and team colours were not standard. "International rowing is an absolute shambles. It's hand-to-mouth, it'll-be-alright-on-the day - all tied up with binding twine."
Mick O'Callaghan, whose work as team manager of the senior squad was deemed "invaluable" by Jahrling and Fox, took issue with Heskin's analysis, as did honorary secretary Denis O'Regan. In the one election of the day McGeehan was re-elected as honorary treasurer.
The accounts for the year showed that money generated from rowing to run the sport is a small portion of the amount spent. "We're still basically a semi-state body," said McGeehan.
In their characteristically hard-hitting report Jahrling and Fox bemoaned the lack of sponsorship but said our internationals "receive financial support that athletes in many other countries can only dream of" from the Sports Council. They were critical of "extremely poor" training conditions and the inadequate equipment available.
The coaches guided Ireland to a World Championship silver medal and deemed the international campaign a success, but they were scathing in their criticism of the two national under-23 crews.
"Both crews performed abysmally and their poor result is a direct outcome of their level of commitment to the Under-23 World Championships. In the future we should only send crews to the World Championships if they commit to a full training regime and spend the time required to prepare."
Coaching was a problem area. "Ireland is the only place we know where you can't find coaches to coach national crews," Jahrling and Fox opined.
The awards for the year went to the lightweight four and women's lightweight double and to the junior men's and women's double.
Coach of the year was Jimmy Fennessy of Clonmel, while the president's prize will be presented to Ian Harvey, the Coleraine man who raises money for charity by rowing.
