ROWING:SOMETIMES THE gods of the weather have a keen sense of irony. After a week in which the nation became familiar with Inniscarra lake in Cork because of flooding, last night a huge event at the National Rowing Centre on the lake hung in the balance – because of predicted high winds.

The organisers of Skibbereen head of the river, scheduled for tomorrow, have every intention of holding it – even if they have to defer the time trial event to one of the weekends in December.

This possibility came strongly into focus last evening as forecasts suggested that winds could rise to 18 to 22 miles per hour (29 to 35 km/h) tomorrow in Cork. Sunday, the first default date for the event, may be even more badly hit by the wind.

“Safety is our priority. We have to do the right thing for everybody,” said Skibbereen’s Dominic Casey.

The huge entry of 420 includes a big proportion of young athletes – there are 48 entries in the junior 16 men’s single scull alone.

Neptune head (twice) and the London Fours head have fallen to the spoilsport weather in recent weeks.

The inaugural national head of the river in single sculls has been carried forward from Neptune head to the Skibbereen programme, which was already set to host the national heads in double sculls and pairs.

Some of the top rowers in the country, including Seán Jacob, Richard Coakley and Cathal Moynihan, are among the entries for the national head events. Niall Kenny and Peter Hanily are also set to team up in a promising double scull, while the return of Eugene Coakley to the sport at the top level is also an interesting prospect.

The devastation wrought by the recent flooding has been all too obvious in rowing clubs. From Carlow to Carrick-on-Shannon to Castleconnell boathouses have been dealing with torrents of water where they don’t need it.

James Mangan of Castleconnell surveyed the damage yesterday in the Castleconnell boat house – “four feet of water” – and suggested that there should be more indoor competition in these months of the year.

His own club has a remarkable record in this discipline. Last weekend the Limerick club medalled twice at the British indoor rowing championships in Birmingham. Shane Ryan took silver in the trunks and arms open competition, while Adrian Sheehan, who has just turned 16, took bronze in the under 18 lightweight competition.