April 1st is a serious day for Irish rowing. The top Ireland crews fly to Italy at the start of an international season which will spin out all the way to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Just before the World Cup in Varese in two weeks' time the rest of the Ireland team travel.
For three crews this regatta and the European Championships which follow are just stepping stones to the season-defining Olympic Qualifier in May. The lightweight four, the women’s pair and single sculler Sanita Puspure have done everything they can to join the two lightweight doubles on the Rio roster. “They have shown a good improvement since the last camp in Seville. All the athletes are very committed,” says Ireland performance director Morten Espersen.
The regatta season for domestic rowers takes off this weekend at Islandbridge. On Saturday, Neptune can boast an entry of four senior eights, and the semi-final draw pits Trinity's top eight against Commercial and Trinity's B crew against UCD, who have entered their second crew. The final is set for 5.42 on a big programme which runs from 8.30 am until 6 pm. The women's senior single scull sees Monika Dukarska take on Breanna Larsen in a semi-final, with Jacqueline Ryan waiting in the final.
Commercial Regatta on Sunday runs from 8 am until just after 6pm, with the clash of the senior men’s coxed fours one of the most attractive fixtures. Commercial B take on Trinity in a semi-final (3.33), with Commercial’s top crew waiting in the final, scheduled for 5.15.
Both regattas, and all two-boat racing events for the season, have been deemed non-status in the hope of attracting stronger entries.
Rowing Ireland hopes to soon make the change of moving the Irish Championships to later in the year. An egm has been fixed for April 17th and a simple majority vote would be sufficient. The change would first come into play in 2018, as the World Championships are very late in 2017.
