Funding changes needed

Athletes giving out about management; World champions who don't fit into Olympic categories ... what is it about this rowing game anyway?

Readers with no direct link to the sport - and even a few who do - may have found themselves asking this question in the wake of Ireland's three golds at the World Championships and the fallout.

There is deep-seated and long-running disgruntlement among many elite competitors about coaching and management structures.

But two things need to be taken into account: the elite are (1) among the best in the world, and (2) foreign-based for much of the year, and used to mixing with teams which are better funded, and have elaborate coaching and management structures.

In Ireland, funding of sport still lags well behind rich countries - even now, when more money is being made available, the way it is administered is far from perfect.

Rowing, too, has been plagued by short-termism: from clubs up to the IARU level some decisions seem to be made on the hoof, rather than as part of a long-term strategy. For both Atlanta and Sydney the Irish rowing team was finalised too late. With only thirtysomething months to Athens there is still no international coach.

The Sports Council's carding scheme may not be suited at present to optimising the Olympic-medal potential of rowing: the allocation of funding on the basis of previous year's performances means athletes can find that performing well in a non-Olympic boat draws better funding than devoting themselves to the longer-term goal of competing in an Olympic class boat, where the competition can be tougher.

Action can change this - a higher ranking for Olympic boats? - and most of the other structural problems. The will is there.