ROWING/HENLEY REGATTA: CAROLINE RYAN bridged a yawning gap for her country, her club, Garda Síochána, and her family when she won the women's single sculls title, the Princess Royal, at Henley Royal Regatta yesterday. Seán Jacob's run in the Diamond Sculls, the top event for men's scullers, fell at the final hurdle when he was beaten by Britain's Ian Lawson.
An Ireland-based crew have not won an Open event at Henley since 1979, when Garda Síochána won the Prince Philip for coxed fours - with a crew which included Caroline's father, Willie Ryan, and her uncle Ted Ryan. Ted has been coaching Ryan, along with Brendan Duane, who also coached the Prince Philip crew in 1979.
Ryan showed characteristic grit yesterday in her victory over Mathilde Pauls, a German-born British team member. The Kildare woman was all set to go at the start, but as appalling weather assailed the course, she had to climb on to the bank, empty her boat and keep warm until the race started over half an hour later.
"There was thunder and lightning and everybody was shouting at us to get out. We had to pull into the side and hop out and abandon everything," Ryan said matter-of-factly.
She jogged to keep warm, drank coffee and sheltered under whatever covering she could find.
"It was lashing rain. They kept saying '10 minutes' and then it would be 20. We were back and forward like yo-yos. The hands were numb and everything."
When the race did start, Ryan took the lead early and held it, but Pauls came back in the closing stages. Ryan, with her legs cramping up, had to dig deep. The verdict was three-and-a-half lengths. "That was my best win ever. It was fantastic," Ryan said.
The flat-calm water after the storm favoured scullers with a fast start and high rating down the course, and Lawson beat Jacob in eight minutes 10 seconds, the fastest time this week. The verdict for the man who was 10th in the single scull in the Athens Olympics was "easily".
"I didn't have the top-end speed to compete with him out there today in the still conditions, with no wind," said Jacob, who had been the master in the head wind in his four previous races.
Jacob's international season came to shuddering halt when he was cut after the Munich World Cup, resulting in an unsuccessful High Court case. Ryan was cut at the same stage.
Was she happy she got a fair chance? "No - that's the long and short of it. A lot of people feel injustice at what went on this year. I'm delighted to be finishing up the year on a note like this."
Results (Irish interest): Saturday: Diamond Sculls (Single, Open) Semi-final: S Jacob bt N Reilly-O'Donnell easily, 9:39. Princess Royal (Women's Single, Open) semi-final: C Ryan bt A Labots (Ned) easily 10:28. Sunday: Diamond Sculls (Single, Open) Final: I Lawson bt S Jacob easily, 8:10. Princess Royal (Women's Single, Open) - Final: Ryan bt M Pauls 3½ l, 9:18.
