ROWING:IRISH ROWING has a strong interest in tomorrow's star-spangled Eights Head of the River in London. The event has fired the imagination of the rowing public, as the Tideway Scullers' crew is a who's who of scullers, including Olympic gold, silver and bronze medallists from Beijing – and this unit is ranked only fifth of the starters!
UCD, who start in 101st place, have their own Olympic twist in the form of Richard Coakley.
The Skibbereen man, who rowed in the lightweight four B final in Beijing, comes in as a late substitute in the number two seat.
UCD head coach John Holland hopes for a top-40 place for the crew. Trinity start in 28th, thanks to the endeavours of last year’s remarkable crew. But they are all but starting anew, and only club captain Ali Floyd remains from last year’s Big Pot winners.
Under new coach Mark Fangen-Hall, Queen’s University have been improving at a rate of knots, as they demonstrated by their victory at Erne head of the the river. Their top eight goes off 86th, but they should improve on this – they have to be a good tip to be strong contenders for the Bernard Churcher Trophy for best placing by an overseas university.
NUIG are understood to have withdrawn, but Queen’s have a second crew in contention – an opportunity Commercial would have relished. They go off in 134th.
Commercial have a competitive memberships of over 100, and trying to cater for a group of athletes with a range of abilities demands a flexible approach. A number of the most talented will concentrate on the National Trials at Easter, so Michael Maher, for instance, will not be available for tomorrow’s big test in London.
One athlete with multiple interests is Sinéad Jennings. She has been given leave from the National Trials because of final medical exams, and she has also been flirting with track cycling, although that season is over now.
Jennings has long cherished the dream of adding a second World Championship gold medal to the one won in 2001 as a lightweight single sculler. She says she has been exploring the possibility of competing again in that grade in the season ahead with Martin McElroy, who heads up the Irish system. The lightweight single is a non-Olympic class.
Galway Rowing Club will add some variety to tomorrow’s Cork Head of the River on the Marina. The event has a strong Munster entry, but Galway provide the opposition for local crew in both the men’s senior eights (where they face two Shandon/UCC composites) and the women’s senior eights (where they are set to take on Cork RC).
Former NUIG student Peter Williams does not give in easily. He was one of the crew which had to abandon an attempt to row the Atlantic in January . . . so he’s off to row the Indian Ocean next month. And, he hopes to attempt the Atlantic again in December.
His website, worldoceanrowing.com, gives the details.
