Rowing Column: In years to come the 2006 season may be viewed as a peculiar and perhaps transitional one. In general, on the domestic front it is hard not to feel that regattas are reflecting what might be termed the doughnut effect: the senior events are weak, with some of the best athletes having pitched for a place in the burgeoning international programme, but the entry at junior 16 level is blossoming.

And then there are the specfic details of the season. One of the highlights of the year, the Metropolitan Regatta at Blessington Lakes tomorrow, comes after the cancellation of Cork City Regatta because of weather difficulties - it will share a date with Monkstown and Cork Harbour on June 24th - and should have featured some of the hottest action of the season so far for seniors. In the event, Metro will not have a men's senior eights race. NUIG, winners for the last two years, entered two crews and they were set to face a composite crew built around experienced St Michael's oarsmen. But the Galway club now stand suspended and as of yesterday had not appealed.

This will be the first time since 1986 that the senior eights at Metro will not been staged for lack of entries.

With 304 valid entries, the regatta will still be very big event. Fourteen crews entered in the men's intermediate pair and 13 in the men's junior 18 single scull. Interestingly, UCD's women's senior eight are set to face opposition in the form of University of Limerick in one of he few races in this category this season.

The "blue riband" event, the men's senior coxed four has seven entries, with the Ireland junior four entered as Tara. Competition in this regatta might open up a chance for this crew to race at Henley Royal Regatta.

Underage competitors backbone Sunday's regatta at Carlow, which is a leg of the Waterways Ireland Junior League. The Ireland team for the second World Cup, at Poznan in Poland in a fortnight, also has a strong component of rising talent. The under-23 men's four is joined by the a quadruple and double (James Brinn and Seán Walsh) from that age group.

The lightweight four, heavy four and pair from Munich are also entered, as are single sculler Caroline Ryan and the lightweight women's double of Niamh Ní Cheilleachair and Sinead Jennings. The men's pair will see Seán Casey move into the stroke seat. The only lightweight men's double will be the new one of Richard Coakley and Tim Harnedy.

All the internationals - and coach Harald Jahrling - should be glad to hear that work to upgrade the facilities at Blessington is set to start next week. Inadequate showers and toilets will be the first to be targeted.