ROWING:ONE-HUNDRED-and-seventy of the best athletes in the country head for Newry this weekend knowing they must impress if they are to have a chance of rowing for Ireland in this pre-Olympic year.

This national assessment has particular importance, as the dreadful December weather scuppered the first on-the-water test, and while the ergometer (rowing machine) tests were staged as part of the National Indoor Championships, not all the entrants made it through the snow.

So what was set to be the last assessment before the national trials in April is the first for many competitors.

“Quite a lot does ride on this for athletes, particularly those on the margins,” says Ireland performance director Martin McElroy. “This is what determines who is going to go to the assessment in April.”

Tomorrow will feature ergometer tests and on Sunday athletes will race in time-trial format on Newry Canal.

The entry reflects the profile of competitive rowing in Ireland in recent years, with about 130 juniors and a hugely ambitious group at under-23 level.

One of the big debates of the season ahead is whether this group’s good results last year – including a silver medal at the World Under-23 Championships – can be translated into competitive performances at the World Championships in Bled in late August/early September. This is also the main qualifying regatta for London 2012.

McElroy urges caution. “The priority has to be to create a culture where people expect to win, not be beaten. So the steps that we take have to be the right steps for those athletes. There is no point throwing those athletes in way out of their depths,” he says.

“It might be tempting, at least from the outside, to think they should have a go – and if it is realistic, of course we will. But you also have to think, these are young guys, for the longer term. And they know that as well. They have no illusions about that. They know you have to work your way up.”

One of the most experienced athletes, Cathal Moynihan, returned from injury with a win at the St Michael’s head of the river. A good performance here would set him up for his birthday: he turns 30 on Monday.

A constant source of debate in domestic rowing concerns the rise of multi-club crews at the National Championships. The issue came to a head when a crew formed from seven clubs – “the Facebook eight” – won the women’s senior eights title last year. An egm of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union at Neptune Rowing Club in Dublin on Sunday week will tackle the matter head-on.

It is proposed that composites can be made up only of two clubs, with one not exceeding 25 per cent of the crew.