ROWING/Weekend Preview: One of the biggest "Irish" regattas outside the national championships takes place tomorrow and Sunday, in Ghent, Belgium. The huge exodus means some of the races are actually dominated by entries from this country.
Four of the entries in a prestige senior A eights competition are Irish, although a training injury to Tony O'Connor has forced Neptune to send only one eight. However, crews from Commercial and a Trinity/Lady Elizabeth composite will face opposition which includes Thames and Leander.
O'Connor's injury - he is expected to be able to train on Sunday and be ready for Duisburg regatta the following weekend - also ends his chance of rowing with Gearoid Towey in the men's pair this weekend.
The men's junior 18 eights on Sunday has five entries, with three from Ireland - Commercial, Neptune and St Joseph's, Galway.
In the sculling events Commercial have a strong entry, and UCD's Con Collis and Johnny Devitt have targeted this regatta to hone their sculling skills .
An interesting entry in the women's lightweight single sculls is Commercial's Becky Quinn, who hopes to represent her country this season.
Back in Ireland, both Lee and Portora regattas are set for tomorrow, although the bad news is Limerick have had to abandon theirs, scheduled for tomorrow fortnight, because of "a severe lack of personnel". The event is directly opposite Munster's European Cup final in Cardiff.
