Rowing ColumnNUIG's international stars will get a rare chance to compete with their club at the NUIG Head of the River tomorrow in Galway. Alan Martin and Cormac Folan, who were part of the Ireland heavyweight four which took seventh at the World Championships this year, will be joined in the club's senior eight by James Wall and Paul Murray from the Ireland under-23 heavyweight four.
The four athletes' international duties ruled them out of NUIG's breakthrough last July when the club teamed up with Galway Rowing Club to lift the national senior eights title.
There are two heads tomorrow, at 10.30am and 2.30pm. NUIG will put out two eights in the second head, where they are set to take on St Michael's of Limerick with two overseas crews: a composite of Tyrian and the University of London and the Dutch crew Koninlijke Roei en Zeil Vereeniging "De Maas", who will also field two fours in the earlier head. Wall and Murray, part of the Ireland four which won gold at the World University Regatta last year, will go on from the head to the Team Ireland training camp in Inniscarra Lake in Cork, which runs until Monday.
The international squad, who have been training in single sculls, will compete in the five regional time trials tomorrow week, November 4th. Leinster's will be at Blessington (12pm) and Ulster's on Newry Canal at 11am; there will be two trials at O'Brien's Bridge (10am and 12pm), Galway (7.30am and 9.30am) and Innicarra (9am and 11.30). All the trials are on Saturday, as a group of internationals travel to a three-week Team Ireland training camp in Cyprus on November 5th.
Last weekend's Head of the Charles in Boston featured a spectacular incident on the Sunday when the Peking University collegiate eight crashed and sank at Eliot Bridge. Cox Amy Sun stood up in the sinking boat and warned off other crews before baling out last. Coxes in Chinese boats look set to remain the centre of some attention - the cox for the national men's crew for Beijing is to be chosen after a reality show on Chinese television!
