CANOEING:TWO IRELAND canoeists have qualified for the Olympics, and the prospects of the team for London adding more personnel have received a boost with the news that a former world champion will compete for Ireland at the canoe sprint Olympic Qualifier today and tomorrow.

Andrej Jezierski, a Pole who lives in Ballincollig in Co Cork, won five medals at the World Championships in canoe sprint events for Poland, including two golds in the C4 1,000 metres. In 2002 he took a silver in the C1 200m, the event in which he will compete in the qualifier, which takes place in Poznan in Poland.

In canoe events, the paddler is kneeling on one knee and uses a single-blade paddle, while in kayaks – the boat in which Hannah Craig and Eoin Rheinisch have qualified in the slalom discipline – the paddler is seated and uses a two-blade paddle.

Jezierski has been training at the National Rowing Centre in Farran Wood, Co Cork, and is actually a member of Lee Valley rowing club, which is based at the top-class facility. He is settled in Cork with his family, but his wait for an Ireland passport only ended recently and he kept a very low profile and even competed in the Poland trials before finally declaring in recent weeks for the country where he is based.

Jezierski will not have it all his own way at the qualifier, where he faces strong opposition, especially from Germany, France, Slovakia and Hungary. There are qualification places for boats from two countries, but some additional places may be handed back, according to Ireland team manager Tom Egan.

Ireland have real hopes in the women’s K1 (kayak) events. Jenny Egan competes in the K1 500m and 200m. The Salmon Leap athlete, who took silver in the 5,000 metres at the World Cup in the Czech Republic last year, found the going tough in the Olympic class at last year’s World Championships, but has put in a block of training in the United States.

Neil Fleming will compete in the men’s K1 1,000 metres, while Sean Marchetti goes in both the men’s K1 200m and, in combination with Val Peirce, in the K2 200 metres.

An Ireland team will also go on to compete in the World Cup event which starts on Friday.