Espersen looking forward to meeting coaches

ROWING ROUND-UP:THE IRISH delegates at the Fisa World Rowing Coaches Conference in Limerick this weekend will get a chance to meet the man who will soon be at the helm of the international side of the sport, Morten Espersen. Speaking to The Irish Times, the Dane said he was looking forward to the event and meeting Irish coaches.

One hundred and seventy delegates – 120 of them from overseas - are descending on Limerick for the conference, which features presentations with Olympic gold-medal winning coaches from Germany, Denmark and Britain.

The new HPD for the Canadian men’s system, Martin McElroy, will speak on developing a high performance programme in a small federation. McElroy is the outgoing Ireland HPD, but much of the interest in this country will be on his successor, Espersen.

The Dane said he will be looking at property with his wife in the coming months with the aim of moving here when he takes up his post early next year. Why did he choose Ireland? “Because the culture in Ireland is very similar to the culture in Denmark: the atmosphere and also the humour are very similar. So I think it is pretty easy for me to adapt to the rowing environment.”

He has been on the Fisa Competitive Commission since 1994 and has come to know Ireland coaches and athletes. “I think the potential is very good in Ireland. That’s really something that excites me.”

At 61 he is at the stage of his life where his children have left the nest and he is not tied down to Denmark. Now is the time for hands-on involvement with new people. “I really want to get back to having the feel of getting involved with the coaches on a full-time basis. That’s something that really inspires me. I think that the motivation of it is very strong. I think that is something that is really pushing me.”

He performed the HPD function in Denmark from 1993 to 2001 – the base years for a very successful programme – and went on to strategic functions for most of the past decade. Now he talks of “starting from scratch in a different country”. “The system is pretty much working well in Denmark, so I can take something from the Danish [system] maybe, if it’s something that suits Ireland. I think it would be very inspiring to be part of building on the structures you already have.”

Denmark have had an unbroken string of Olympic medals through the last five Games and a great 20 years. He picks out as highlights the haul of seven medals at the World Championships in 1995 and the gold (lightweight four) and bronze (single sculler Trine Hansen) at the 1996 Olympics.

What would success be in Ireland? “It would be to get the coaches to work together,” he says and then goes on to mention clubs.

Earlier he has spoken of hoping to create a system “able to deliver sustainable results at World Championships”.