ROWING: Tony O'Connor may have stepped away from competitive action to coach, but Neville Maxwell, the man with whom he jointly holds the record for national titles at 21, has gone in the other direction and will row in the host club's eight in tomorrow's Neptune Head of the River at Blessington.
Maxwell will continue to help out coaches Peter Buckley and Bert Farrell in the Neptune set-up, but the attraction of competition has drawn him back into a boat again after a season off the water.
Some of Ireland's best young athletes have come together to form a composite quadruple scull at Blessington. What could be a world-class lightweight quad features Timmy Harnedy and Eugene Coakley of Skibbereen, Neil Casey of Neptune and Neal Byrne of Commercial.
Off the water, the focus this weekend is in Milan and the World Rowing Forum. Dr Joe Cummiskey of the International Olympic Committee is one of the speakers, and there is also a strong Irish representation attending, with John Holland and Philip O'Keeffe of UCD, Denis O'Regan of Monkstown and Cork Harbour and Dr Nick Mahony of Trinity.
The high point for the Irish, however, might come tomorrow night at the gala dinner when the FISA award winners for 2002 are announced. Sam Lynch is a nominee for male rower of crew of the year and his coach Thor Nilsen for coach of the year.
Back in Ireland, interviews for the position of High Performance director were held on Wednesday, with two non-nationals and an Irishman in the running. A decision is promised in the next few weeks.
