Rowing: National coach Harald Jahrling has omitted the 10 athletes who formed the top three Ireland crews at the World Championships in August, but has still named a line-up of 34 athletes for the first Team Ireland camp of the season at the end of the month.
The women's lightweight double took seventh at Eton and the men's fours a bronze medal (lightweights) and a seventh (heavyweights), and Jahrling says he is targeting the development of a second heavyweight men's boat and a men's lightweight double scull. He will also look at the under-23 crews.
But even with such a big number of participants at an early-season camp, the head coach has ruled out any prospect of a lightweight men's eight this season.
"Not interested, no," he replies.
Ambitious lightweights are instead being instructed to form double sculls among themselves in advance of the national time trials in December.
The personnel for the Team Ireland camp, which will run from Saturday, October 28th, to Bank Holiday Monday, October 30th, at Inniscarra, are primarily those who have impressed at underage level in the past two seasons, along with seniors, such as Helen Walshe and Heather Boyle, who Jahrling believes can reach the required level.
Last weekend's five regional time trials may have fed into the mix, but comparing the performances of competitors in different locations and climatic conditions is "really impossible", according to Jahrling, who said the purpose of the regional trials is primarily to get interested athletes doing long-distance tests at this time of the year. December's national time trials will provide a chance for true comparisons.
For all this, the athlete with the best percentage at each of the five trials gets the nod: James Brinn (O'Brien's Bridge); Liam Molloy (Galway); Rory O'Connor (Blessington); John Wholley (Inniscarra) and Orlagh Duddy (Newry). Indeed, all the trials excepting Ulster, from which Duddy is the sole representative, provide a number of invitees.
The organiser of the Ulster trial, John Armstrong, said at the weekend that, in addition to Duddy, a number of lightweight women who competed last weekend are keen to be part of the Ireland elite structures. They will have to wait a little longer for Jahrling's assessment.
Karen Rentoul and Heather Armstrong won gold at the Commonwealth Games regatta this season, but Jahrling wants to see them at a standard he can judge objectively. "I don't really know what the standard of that was," he says of the regatta.
Shortly after the camp in Cork, Jahrling will get to bring some honour to the country in Cyprus. He is the "Coach in the Spotlight" at the World Coaches Conference in Limassol, which runs from November 2nd to 5th.
Tomorrow's time trial for the Dublin Sculling Ladder on the Liffey may benefit from Jahrling's insistence on rowers being able to master the two-oar discipline. Ciarán Lewis takes over as secretary for the event from Micheál Johnston, who will be starter on the day. This will be the 41st staging of the Ladder, and a link to the first will be through Chris George, who competed in the first ladder before going to compete at international level for Britain.
The equivalent Cork event was won by Emmet Foley, with Caroline Murray the top woman.
NATIONAL CAMP (at Inniscarra, October 28th-30th) - Men, Heavyweight - Senior A: S Jacob, C Collis, J Wholley, K McCarthy. Under-23: P Murray, P O'Brien, J Wall, D Barry, R O'Connor, N Kenny, B O'Mahony, A Kelly, A McEvoy. Lightweight - Senior A: R Coakley, G Ward, D O'Dowd, D Heffernan. Under-23: L Molloy, B Clarke, K Rabbitt, J Brinn, V Ruane, K Clarke, M Carroll, J McDonald, P McRae.
Women - Heavyweight - Senior A: C Ryan, H Walshe. Lightweight - Senior A: O Duddy, H Boyle. Under-23: L Gannon, V Stephens, O Hayes, S McCrohan.
