Top athletes to compete for slots in high-performance programme

ROWING:In excess of 100 of Ireland's top rowers will compete at Newry tomorrow and Sunday in an attempt to be part of the new Ireland high-performance programme.

The process will be similar to that which has been established under outgoing high performance director (HPD)Martin McElroy and lead coach Adrian Cassidy, with ergometer tests tomorrow and an on-the-water time trial for those who have made the cut scheduled for 11am on Sunday.

However, Cassidy has stepped down – he left Ireland yesterday – and McElroy now heads up the men’s programme in Canada. Morten Espersen, the new Ireland HPD, will take charge with a new team this weekend.

Espersen, who has been busy settling in since his arrival last week, will find that the bulk of the athletes who made it through from the first trial before Christmas are juniors.

Community sport

Interviews for the role of new lead coach will take place in the next two weeks. The successful candidate will form a novel triumvirate at the helm of Irish rowing, along with Espersen and Hamish Adams, the new chief executive of Rowing Ireland, who takes up his post on February 25th.

Adams is a New Zealander whose background is in rugby and who strongly believes that rowing in Ireland should become more established as a community sport.

He is the Player Services Advisor with the Irish Rugby Union Players Association and is qualified as a sports psychologist and rugby coach.

The St Michael’s Head of the River, which had to be cancelled last weekend because of high water levels, will now take place on March 23rd.

Fermoy Head was originally allocated this date by the Domestic Events Committee, but this head will not now go ahead.

Meanwhile, the date of the Rowing Ireland 2013 agm has been changed to Sunday, April 21st. It will be held in Sport HQ, Dublin. Rule change proposals must now be in by March 24th and nominations for candidates for president, secretary and treasurer must be received by March 31st.