ROWING/National Championships: It was the National Championships which had everything: beautiful weather, a huge range of talent, a big spectator presence. The one aspect which the organisers at the National Rowing Centre in Cork could not provide - close races - was made up for by a cracking men's senior eights final on Saturday evening.

NUIG had another excellent championships: they won the men's senior coxed and coxless fours and the intermediate eights. But the senior eights, the one denied them by Commercial last year, was to be their jewel in the crown - and it was again torn from them.

Commercial won their third senior eights title in a row with a stunning display of power and self-belief.

"We never dropped our rate below 38," said cox Brendan Farrell.

They held off a late push by NUIG which brought them to within a second by the end.

The Commercial eight was stroked by Niall O'Toole, winning his first senior eights title at 35, and laying down a savage rate which was picked up by the experienced men in the middle of the boat.

Albert Maher identified this as one of the keys: "Ciarán Lewis, Seán Jacob and myself were winning our sixth eights championship in the same seats," the Corkman said. "We know how to do it."

Maher said NUIG had been "talked up a lot". "I think we were hungrier for it."

Even the renowned finishing prowess of Alan Martin could not force NUIG, who had rested Marc Stephens in a selection decision, over the line first.

The women of UCD had earlier set down a marker for Commercial with their third win in a row in the women's senior eights. Astoundingly, all but three of the crew then rushed off to compete in the novice eights final - which they won.

Multi-tasking also seems to come easy to Vanessa Lawrenson, who moved clear of Mary Hussey at top of the women's roll of honour by bringing her total of senior titles to 18.

Lawrenson, a distant cousin of football pundit Mark, added the women's senior four and senior quadruple sculls titles to the double and pairs crowns she had taken on Friday.

The men's double title was convincingly won by Tim Harnedy and Eugene Coakley. They head off today to St Moritz for a training camp and then on to the World Championships in Japan, but they were glad to represent their club, Skibbereen, and its guiding light, Dominic Casey. "Dominic won this title with Lar Collins in the mid-1980's and it's nice to win the same event," said Coakley.

Sean Casey of Muckross won the senior single sculls title, beating his team-mate in the Ireland four, Sean Casey. A fellow Muckross man, Paul Griffin, had already brought the club a title when he teamed up with Richard Archibald of Queen's University to win the men's senior pair.

At junior level, the Clonmel junior women's eight provided one of the pleasant surprises of the regatta with their win.

Coached by Jimmy Fennessy, they are a small crew who know technique counts for a lot. Or, as they chorused as a group: "Good goods come in small parcels".

Not an unbroken rule of course. Just ask the big men of the Commercial eight.