Rowing Ireland has put up a welcome sign under the new guidance of Morten Espersen and this weekend’s Irish trials at the National Rowing Centre will give the Performance Director another chance to convert more athletes to his cause.

The Dane’s primary interests are in widening the base of the sport and building international crews with an eye to Rio 2016. More than 120 junior athletes will trial this weekend with hopes of places from World Junior Championships down to Home Internationals, but Espersen is calling the senior tests an Open Camp.

He has asked athletes who have not been in the assessment process to come along and trial today and he has also cast the net wider, asking rowers based abroad who have Irish citizenship to contact him.

Espersen and new head coach Don McLachlan began to form women’s crews in a camp at the NRC last weekend. In the last few days Espersen travelled to the Bann club in Coleraine, source of three medallists in London for the British system, and Enniskillen where he met Holly Nixon, a silver medallist for Ireland in the 2011 World Junior Championships.

The loss of Skibbereen Regatta has been a huge blow to the season, and the club does not expect to restage it.

However, there is better news of the other recent casualities. A scaled-down version of the Irish Universities’ Championships will take place at Blessington on Friday, May 24th, the day before Metro Regatta and the Irish Schools’ Championships have been rescheduled to June 28th at the NRC.

Queen’s send a big contingent to the British University Championships (BUCS) at Nottingham this weekend. The men’s Division One pairs final at their home regatta was won by lightweights Donald Evans and Christopher Beck and it will be interesting to trace their progress at BUCS.

Back home, Portadown Regatta tomorrow features local crews, particularly at underage and masters level.