ROWING HENLEY REGATTA:SEÁN JACOB and Caroline Ryan moved confidently into their semi-finals at Henley Royal Regatta yesterday, but the other Irish challenges reached the end of the line.
The Commercial crew in the Wyfold Cup - Colm Dowling, Fionnan Groome, Ben Clarke and Michael Maher - came closest to ensuring a bumper weekend for the Irish. They led for much of their race against the powerful, black-clad Molesey, but were passed before the finish and lost by three feet.
"We were half a length up at the grandstand (in the closing stages), but Molesey got a sniff of it then and went through us," said Commercial coach Gerry Cantan. "We just had to correct the steering at the finish as well. Molesey are a big crew and they just got a sniff and used their extra strength."
Size told in the Double Sculls as well. Diarmaid Mac Colgain and Herbie Griffin went out to the bigger and stronger American double of Gabriel Winkler and Daniel Simkin, but only after putting up a fight in the early stages.
"We went off really hard," Mac Colgain said. "We led them by a length at the Island, and were neck and neck at the Barrier, (but) they just slipped away from us then."
One Irish athlete had to lose out in the battle between Fran Jacob and Ryan in the Princess Royal, and the outcome was predictable: Ryan was a comfortable winner.
The garda has worn the green of Ireland and mixed it with the top women scullers in the world, and she was never going to be intimidated by a club athlete like Jacob. The Kildare woman looks the pick of the women remaining in this competition, but she has been struggling with a rib strain.
Seán Jacob has fully overcome the virus which cast a shadow over his last competitive outing, in the World Cup in Munich in May. In contrast to his sister Fran, Seán has a stock of big-regatta experience. He was untroubled by the challenge of British club oarsman Will Hoodless in the quarter-final of the Diamond Sculls.
The Dubliner said he had a much better row than on his first outing on Thursday. "I was really happy with it," he said. He won easily at the end, but "it was over after a quarter of a mile".
Jacob is now just two steps away from annexing the title won by fellow Irishman Alan Campbell last year. He faces Nathaniel Reilly-O'Donnell, a former junior world champion, in the semi-final today.
Jacob is entered in next weekend's National Championships in an Old Collegians/Neptune composite, while Griffin and Mac Colgain will be in a super-composite of Old Collegians, Galway, Tribesmen and Shannon.
James Wall's entry in the single scull was made by his club, NUIG.
The athlete is in St Moritz, trialling for the Ireland four for the Olympic Games.
