ROWING: With just eight weeks left to the National Championships some of the big crews meet for the first time this weekend at the Cork City and Fermoy regattas.
The entry for the men's senior eight final in tomorrow's Cork City regatta features the best crews of the season so far. Garda won at Neptune regatta, Lady Elizabeth at Trinity and NUIG, who will be favourites, at Limerick.
The venue, the National Rowing Centre at Farran Wood, is the same as that for the Championships, and the result will give a strong indication of the relative strengths of these three.
Commercial, the national champions, are not competing tomorrow. St Michael's of Limerick, Cork Boat Club and York complete the line-up for the straight final.
St Michael's have been making their name in a different way recently - five of their young oarsmen were involved in the rescue of a man from the river Shannon last Sunday.
Fermoy's regatta this Sunday has a huge entry, and without the six-lane capacity of the NRC, this results in a day of competition which will run from early morning to late in the evening.
The first World Cup, at Eton in England, is only six days away, and the two Irish lightweight fours have been chosen.
The top four features Diarmaid Mac Colgain at stroke and is completed by the two Coakley brothers, Eugene and Richard, and Danny O'Dowd. The second four will be made up of Jonny Devitt, David Wallace, Kenny McDonald and Andy Coleman, with positions in the boat still to be finalised.
Paul Griffin, stroke of the Ireland lightweight four for the Olympics, does not make it, and coach Harald Jahrling said yesterday that the Muckross man, who was injured for much of the year so far, has a way to go before he can compete on the world stage. "He needs to get specific fitness - race fitness," Jahrling said.
The German also confirmed that the teams for the Home Internationals will be chosen after the National Championships in July with no specific trial scheduled. The agm of the Irish Amateur Rowing union has been set for September 17th.
Next weekend's World Cup regatta will be the first in Britain, and will be a big chance for London to make its case for the 2012 Olympics.
The organisers look to have a sure-fire winner in their celebrity event at the end of competition on Saturday - a re-row of the famous fours race from Sydney. Matthew Pinsent, Steve Redgrave, Tim Foster and James Cracknell will take on their international opponents for charity.
Pinsent will be given the 2005 Thomas Keller Medal, awarded by the world governing body, FISA, for an "outstanding career in rowing".
