Trinity secure double triumph on eventful day

ROWING/Colours races: Trinity's men and women had good wins on Saturday in the colours races on the Liffey in Dublin - on a day when there were some dramatic incidents at a tangent to the main events.

One of the stewards, Eddie Mackle, jumped into the water to save a woman in the water at the Ha'penny Bridge just before the men's race. Earlier, unknown to the crowds which lined the course from O'Connell Bridge to Queen's St Bridge, the UCD men's crew had a lucky escape when a sandbag was thrown over Matt Talbot Bridge as the eight made its way to the start.

The races, rowed in bright sunshine over the shorter-than-usual course, were hard-fought affairs with similar profiles. In the men's race, for the Gannon Cup, defending champions UCD got a good start, but Trinity pushed hard and gained a slight advantage by the Ha'penny Bridge. The crews clashed at this point and Trinity were ordered to get back on line.

Trinity steadily stretched their lead, and had three-quarters of a length to spare going under the penultimate bridge, Church Street. UCD, to their credit, cut the lead to half a length. But they could not improve on this and Trinity had a three-quarter length lead again as they crossed the finish line.

In the women's race, for the Corcoran Cup, UCD kept close to their Trinity rivals all the way to the Four Courts Bridge, where they only trailed by one quarter of a length. But Trinity, stroked by Ciara Rogerson, had more in the tank. They pulled away to win by one length.

It was hard not to feel sorry for the UCD women as a number of them slumped over in the boat, heads in hands, to the sound of cheering by the Trinity supporters in one of the two open-topped buses provided for supporters. The presence of President Mary McAleese in the leading bus - she was supporting her daughter Emma - had ensured an unusually speedy passage down the quay.

Trinity's wins were a triumph for boatman Tim Levy. Coaching the men and women, the Englishman has brought new talent along at the college. Two of the men's crew, stroke Richard Northridge and club captain Stuart King, are on sports scholarships, but Levy was particularly proud of number three Richard Moore, who, he pointed out, has only been rowing since October and was out of action for eight weeks of that term with fractured ribs.

UCD had a narrow win in the men's novice race, held at Islandbridge earlier in the day, while Trinity won the equivalent women's race.