Elite squads to be split for training

Rowing: In a major change to the way rowing at the top level is run, Ireland's elite women's and men's squads will operate separately from now on.

Thor Nilsen, who has effectively been head coach for the lightweight squad, and assistant coach Tony O'Connor will now take charge of the men alone. The women will be based in Limerick and, while they will follow programmes laid down by Nilsen, they will be coached by Feargal O'Callaghan, the fitness coach of the Munster rugby team.

O'Callaghan (34) is from Limerick and rowed with Shannon until the mid 1990s. He worked with the National Coaching and Training centre before taking up his full-time post with the IRFU in 1999.

He relishes the chance of assisting the rowers, he admitted. "I'm really excited about it," he said.

It also emerged yesterday that Sinead Jennings, the world champion in lightweight single scull in 2001, may opt to try to gain a place at next year's Olympics in a heavyweight single scull - a new weight class for her.

Jennings will train on the continent with Nilsen in November and December before a decision is made on whether the heavyweight single is a viable option or whether she will again attempt to gain a place in Athens in a lightweight double scull.

The Olympic Qualifiers take place in June in Lucerne.

The high performance director of Irish rowing, Richard Parr, said yesterday that Ireland will target two heavyweight men's categories in those qualifiers: the single scull and the coxless four.

In the more immediate future, tomorrow's NUIG Head of the River in Galway has been hit hard by the withdrawal of the national squad's lightweight men's four. A number of the athletes had been suffering from colds and flu and Tony O'Connor pulled them from the event yesterday.

NUIG took over the head after Tribesmen decided not to stage it again this year, and they have been thrilled with the response. "We're very happy with the entry of 252 crews," said NUIG club captain Robert Cronin.

Apart from the chance to get out on the water competitively so early in the season, there is another attraction for competitors in that the top club will win a Lola-Aylings single scull. The host club have ruled themselves out of this competition.

Commercial have a strong entry. Sean Jacob looks set to emerge as top single sculler in the absence of Albert Maher, who finished third in the Head of the Charles in Boston at the weekend. Jacob will also team up with Ciarán Lewis in the open double.