The weekend of Saturday, April 15th is set to become a crucial one for two of Ireland's top sportsmen, Neville Maxwell and Tony O'Connor. After a specially-organised trial the two will decide whether to continue their quest for Olympic qualification as a heavyweight pair - they are reigning bronze medallists as a lightweight pair, but this will not be an Olympic discipline in Sydney - or leave themselves open to selection as part of a lightweight four.
Last Saturday's national trials in Inniscarra over 1500 metres suggest that the two would have a real contribution to make to a lightweight four. A crew of the two Neptune men plus Emmet O'Brien and Donal McGuinness was 6.8 seconds slower (4:30.3 to 4:37.1) than the four which has been training together, Gearoid Towey, Neal Byrne, James Lyndsay-Finn and Noel Monahan.
However, when Maxwell and O'Connor were paired with Towey and Byrne they beat the combination of Lyndsay-Finn and Monahan by 10.5 seconds (4:31.6 to 4:42.1). While the winning time was slightly slower, this crew was only coming together on the day.
O'Connor and Maxwell will pace themselves, as a heavyweight pair, against Ireland's lightweight double scull in three week's time and then decide which combination they wish to try to progress with - the final trial to decide the four for the World Cup in Munich in early June is at Easter.
Heavyweight scullers Albert Maher and Sean Jacob will also in the coming month be trying to prove that they should win selection to move on to the Olympic Qualification regatta in Lucerne in July.
The trials at the weekend yielded an extraordinary result in women's lightweight single sculls, in which, in difficult conditions, 24-year-old former triathlete Sinead Jennings was all of eight seconds faster than nearest challenger Vanessa Lawrenson. Donegal-born and Edinburgh-based Jennings only took up rowing in April and sculling in September. "There is a bundle of potential there," said women's convenor Carol-Ann Smith.
There was also plenty of potential on show on the Liffey on Saturday when the Gannon Cup colours race produced the closest race of recent years. After a tremendous battle Trinity overcame the disadvantage of rowing on the south station - they had lost the toss - to be given the verdict by half a length.
The women's senior race, the Corcoran Cup, had an unfortunate outcome when Trinity caught a crab after Capel Street bridge, impeded UCD and were disqualified. UCD also won the men's novice race by a canvas - somewhat controversially as the umpire had to cycle along the quays - and the women's novice race by a distance.
