ROWING: Tomorrow is a day for the young and old in Irish rowing. The Neptune Head of the River at Blessington is run by a club founded in 1908 and is one of the most successful in the country; the Tralee Time Trial is an inaugural event for a club registered with the Irish Amateur Rowing Union (IARU) in September last year.
Neptune's first head, at 11.30, has an entry of 98 crews and the second (2.30) has 96.
But even this high-profile club event is firmly in the shadow of the international programme.
With a big group of elite rowers in Cyprus for a training camp, and a number of others concentrating on preparing for the National Time Trial in three weeks' time, the crews competing may be very much altered come the business end of the season next spring and summer.
St Michael's are the defending champions in both the men's senior eight and senior four.
The Limerick club are also sending crews to Tralee, which is catering primarily for athletes 16 years of age and under. Mary Boner, the chairperson of Tralee Rowing Club, is full of thanks to the Munster Branch for their help in organising this time trial, which she says is "basically to raise the profile of the club".
The club's birth owed much to IARU president Frank Durkin, who spotted the potential for rowing on the canal.
The Irish squad were not the only rowers to be billeted in Cyprus in recent days. The sport's governing body, Fisa, presented their awards for crews of the year in Limassol at the weekend.
Ekaterina Karsten won the women's award; the Polish quadruple scull the men's; Greece technical director Gianni Postiglione the coach of the year; Penny Chuter of Britain the award for Distinguished Service to International Rowing.
The efforts of Fermoy Rowing Club to ensure their survival seem to be bearing fruit. Last weekend, representatives of the club met John Browne, the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, and they believe he has recognised their concerns that alterations to the weir in Fermoy could destroy the river for rowing.
The club believe concerns about salmon numbers could be best addressed by the ban on drift-net fishing and a new rock pass at the weir.
