Irish crews well focused

ROWING COLUMN:THIS IS A hugely important year for Irish rowing. The Limerick and Portadown regattas tomorrow will see hundreds of young athletes competing, but if the trend of recent years continues most of them will drift away as they get older. What might change that would be a big performance by the international team in this Olympic year.

Ireland team members Eugene Coakley (29), and James Wall (23), are at either end of the age group in the international set-up, but when they spoke yesterday their enthusiasm for the season ahead shone out.

Coakley, who has silver (2005) and bronze (2006) medals from World Championships and was an Olympic finalist in the lightweight four at Athens in 2004, said the present crew were eagerly awaiting the first World Cup regatta in Munich, which begins on Thursday.

"All the big ones are there. The main thing for our benefit is that the Serbians and Germans are there, along with the Greeks and the Spanish - all the non-qualifiers who we will be trying to gauge. We can tell a lot next weekend."

Coakley has overcome a slight injury sustained at an international regatta at Piediluco in Italy last month. The Irish took gold and silver there, and Coakley echoes his coach, John Holland, in saying it put the crew "back on track".

Credit for the upswing in fortunes is partly due to Holland; the return of Gearóid Towey; and the crew getting their belief back.

"I think it's a combination of everything. We are all enjoying our rowing better, but that's because of the new coach and the new systems. Gags coming back was a big influence - he's such a world-class athlete. He brings confidence to the boat again."

Coakley had said in recent seasons that Beijing, should he reach it, would be the swansong of his decade-long career. But his enjoyment of the sport in recent months has caused a rethink.

"The hunger has come back to me. If I still have that, I'll keep going next year."

Like Coakley, Wall has overcome a slight injury, and is heading for Munich as part of the heavyweight four.

While the Limerickman has competed in World Cup regattas before, he is now part of the six-man Ireland sweep rowing group - all of whom may compete in Beijing.

Remarkably, Wall has managed to mix his rowing career with studying for a degree in Industrial Engineering - and will do some of his final exams in Munich.

The NUIG top club crews will have more than a little interest in tomorrow's Limerick regatta at O'Brien's Bridge. Their senior eight will face the reigning national champions, the St Michael's/Shannon composite, with Cork, Shandon and the University of Limerick also entered.