ROWING: Irish rowing was given another boost yesterday when two crews won at Henley Royal Regatta. The Commercial/Neptune composite crew carried off the Quadruple Sculls and NUIG the Visitors' Cup for coxless fours.
The results matched the high point of 2003, but this year's Henley was arguably better, for Irish crews made four finals in all.
NUIG's student coxed four had won a terrific semi-final on Saturday, coming from behind to beat Imperial College and Goldsmiths' College in a photo finish, and Lady Elizabeth reached the Thames Cup final after beating Molesey.
While both crews lost yesterday, to Durham University and Henley respectively, it does not seem fanciful to suggest Irish rowing is on an upswing. Tara in the Ladies' Plate and Athlunkard in the Britannia, had also made it to the semi-finals.
For Niall O'Toole (35), one of three Commercial men in the winning composite crew, this was his first victory at Henley. He teamed up with clubmates Con Collis and Albert Maher and Neil Casey of Neptune to add a coveted trophy to his list of successes which includes a World Championship gold (1991) and an Olympic final appearance (2004).
The composite's win yesterday over Northwich and Dart Totnes was by a comfortable length and a quarter, which was the same margin NUIG had in their win.
Marc Stephens and Paul Giblin had also been part of the NUIG crew which won the Visitors' in 2003. Their crew controlled the race yesterday against Oxford Brookes - who were stroked by Irishman Derek Holland.
The final of the prestigious Ladies' Plate also had an Irish connection. Corkman Eamonn Joyce - who may feature in Irish elite squads next year - was part of the Cambridge crew which beat Leander, which featured Galwayman Serryth Colbert.
The hopes of Tara had been crushed by Leander on Saturday, but the outing was useful for the lightweight men who are set to travel to the World Cup at Lucerne next weekend. "When you are giving away three stone a man into a headwind it is quite a hard task," said coach Tim Levy of the loss on Saturday.
Athlunkard's impressive run in the Britannia for coxed fours ended when they were beaten by Thames.
