ROWING:Even as Rowing Ireland locks in major changes for the 2013 season, it is still in the dark about the funding it will receive from the Irish Sports Council.
The new chief executive begins work on Monday and a new lead coach should be named next week, but while high-performance director Morten Espersen was confident he would have certainty on funding by now, the can has been kicked down the road.
Outgoing chief executive Frank Coghlan says it is not a good situation for the newly-arrived director. “Morten is here only three weeks, only getting used to the system, and he is finding it quite frustrating: the fact that he does not know – literally has no idea – how much money he will have to play with in his budget. So when he is looking at coaching structures, competition plans (and) camps, we just don’t know what he will be able to do or not do, (even) what events he will be able to go to.”
The World Cup regatta in Sydney is four weeks away and Espersen has decided Ireland will not compete because it would be too early in the season and too expensive.
Attractive heads
There are two attractive heads of the river in Ireland tomorrow. Carrick-on-Shannon has drawn men’s eights from NUIG and Trinity, while a fine entry for Cork Head includes Ireland Olympian Sanita Puspure and the woman who came closest to matching her at the recent National Assessment, Monika Dukarska. This could be a good season for Killorglin’s Dukarska, who has her Ireland passport in the bag and is enthusiastic about representing her country.
One man who did his country proud at the weekend is Jonathan Doyle. The Dubliner won the lightweight men’s (40 to 49) category at the World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston. Doyle, who is 40, clocked six minutes 32 seconds and had three and a half seconds to spare over second-placed Christopher Cala. “I was delighted with the win, but disappointed with my time,” said Doyle. His personal best is 6:30.1.
The Fisa Extraordinary Congress at the weekend had mixed news for Ireland: a proposal to include the women’s lightweight single sculls in the Olympics had widespread support but was effectively put on hold as the International Olympic Committee will be the final arbiters and Fisa must work with them on the issue.
Averaging of weights in lightweight crew boats will also continue: a proposal by the Fisa executive to end this practice could not win enough support.
