Sinéad Jennings doesn't believe in taking it easy. Within three days of having her third child, Hannah, in August, the 38-year-old was back training, and last weekend – less than three months later – she sent a message to her competitors in lightweight rowing by winning the Ireland trial in an excellent time.
"I wanted to come back with a bit of a bang," said the Donegal woman, a world champion in the lightweight single scull in 2001.
Tomorrow, the Limerick-based oarswoman will compete in the Castleconnell Head of the River. In a typical week she trains 10 times, at least five of those sessions on this stretch of river Shannon, usually 21-kilometre rows.
Her ultimate aim is to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in the lightweight double scull – the one slot available for lightweight women. But if she is to start out seriously on that road she knows that she must first be prepared to relocate with her family to County Cork, where the National Rowing Centre is sited.
“At the moment I will train on my own. Hannah is very young, just three months. I had hoped to stay around here till Christmas anyway and then travel up and down every weekend. Then next year we will probably have to look at relocating to Cork.”
“We” in this case is Jennings and her husband Sam Lynch along with the three children. Lynch is a medical doctor, but also a double world champion in the lightweight single scull.
A cull
The next stage of the 2015 Ireland trialling process is ergometer tests in November, though Jennings, as is the case with some rowers, cannot compete on these and will be allowed by Ireland coach Don McLachlan to do a 30-kilometre Wattbike test. Following this there will be “a cull”, with athletes being invited to the December trial.
“Boats should be formed by Christmas, with final testing in February,” McLachlan said. The final Ireland trial is scheduled for March.
Rowing Ireland's new new Connacht Development Officer will be Jen Cunningham. The post, which will encourage rowing in secondary schools, has been created as a joint venture between NUIG and Rowing Ireland. Cunningham's background is in hockey but she took up rowing as a mature student in NUIG in 2006 an dis currently captain of Gráinne Mhaol, the 'old boys' club of the college.
