ROWINGIT WAS remarkable at the National Championships – which was a very good event – how clubs such as Galway Rowing Club shone brightly across the big non-Championship programme for athletes at under-16 and below.
Statistically, the number of competitors at junior level who stay the course to senior may be small, but seeing youngsters master a demanding discipline, and have fun doing it, is rewarding in itself.
This weekend, some of the very best junior athletes represent Ireland at the Coupe de la Jeunesse, a European tournament in Ottensheim in Austria.
For some it will be a first taste of international action for athletes who have already made their mark domestically: Hilary Shinnick of Fermoy, who turned 16 in March and won both the junior 16 and junior 18 single sculls titles at the National Championships, is part of a women’s quadruple.
Come Wednesday, the top two juniors in the country, Paul O’Donovan and Holly Nixon, go into action in the World Junior Championships at the Olympic course, Dorney Lake near London.
O’Donovan (who turned 17 in April, and has one more year in this grade) gave former Olympian Seán Casey a serious race for the senior sculls championship at the National Championships.
Nixon finished third in the women’s senior scull – having taken on a lot of water at the start.
However, the Enniskillen woman had already tasted senior success at Henley Women’s Regatta, as she was part of the Portora/Rowing Ireland crew which won the elite quadruple title.
Sanita Puspure, the stroke of that crew, had a wonderful day of her own yesterday – off the water. After months awaiting the chance of applying for an Ireland passport, she was off to Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin to be granted her certificate of naturalisation.
She intends to immediately apply for her Irish passport, which will clear the way to enable her to compete for Ireland at the World Championships in a month’s time.
That event, in Bled in Slovenia, was always a crucial one in the calendar, given that boats can be qualified for the Olympic Games there. It has now become the only focus for the Ireland high performance programme this season, now that the World Under-23 Championships have come and gone.
While Ireland crews did not figure among the medals at the World Under-23s, Peter Chambers of Coleraine struck gold as part of a record-breaking Britain lightweight pair. He has been added to the senior World Championship team.
The Ireland team is set to be announced in the coming days. Puspure has remained bullish about the chances of her partnership with Lisa Dilleen in the women’s double scull, given that they have made so much progress in such a short time together.
Back home, the Carrick-on-Shannon Sprint Regatta is on tomorrow. It has established itself as one of the events most praised for its element of fun and features some mixed-gender crews.
