ROWING HENLEY REGATTA:TWO IRISHMEN claimed stirring victories at Henley Royal regatta on a day when one of the seeded Irish crews suffered a surprise defeat. The all-UCD Temple Cup clash ended with a tame victory for the A crew late last evening.
The two inspiring wins came courtesy of NUIG’s Dave Mannion in the Diamond Sculls and Dubliner Martin Walsh, who stroked the Isis crew from Oxford University to victory over great rivals Cambridge in the Visitors’ Cup.
Mannion is the one entry from an Irish club in an Open event and as a lightweight he was giving away a weight advantage against Hugh Mackworth-Praed, a former British international. The Irishman trailed his 37-year-old opponent for most of the course but in the closing stages dramatically upped his strokes per minute to pass Mackworth-Praed – and beat him by a remarkable two and a half lengths. Mannion faces a two-time winner in London-based Derryman Alan Campbell today.
The Isis victory was similarly dramatic, but much closer at the finish – the verdict was a foot. “It was a great race, absolutely brilliant,” said Walsh. “We rowed really badly for about 1,800 metres,” he admitted, and it was only by upping the rate to 42 for over 300 metres that they passed Cambridge and won.
The surprise defeat for an Irish crew also came in the Visitors’, when Galway/Skibbereen crew couldn’t cope with the technically very good Mercyhurst College from the US.
There was no slip up for the NUIG Visitors’ crew, however. They justified the high hopes many have for them with a confident win.
The experienced Old Collegians/London Rowing Club quadruple were confident winners yesterday, the half-length win not reflecting their dominance.
In the Thames Cup, Commercial advanced, but Galway Rowing club fell to a powerful Molesey crew. Molesey take on Commercial today, and club captain Martin Hogan said it would be a “very tough race”.
The defeat for Queen’s University in the Temple Cup for student eights was disappointing but hardly surprising. The Belfast college led at the Barrier, about a quarter way in, but Brown University won by half a length.
Princeton may be the pick of the American entrants, and UCD’s senior crew face them today, after a facile win over their intermediates.
