ROWING ROUND-UP:THE GREAT Grand League travelling show pitches camp in Castlewellan tomorrow at the Queen's University regatta. Over 300 crews are set to descend on the picturesque Co Down venue.
The beauty of the league, spread over six regattas, is it guarantees some fine racing. In the men’s eights, for example, the four senior crews – Queen’s A and B, Commercial and St Michael’s – will be testing each other’s strengths, but much interest will rest on how a hot junior outfit like Bann will figure. If this is the big selling point, sticking out like a sore thumb is the fact that while the league travels not all crews do. Skibbereen stand way out on top of the league rankings after the first regatta, which they hosted, but they are sending not a single crew.
Dominic Casey, the force behind the Cork club, said yesterday this regatta comes very soon after their own and clashes with a fundraising duathlon this weekend. He is a big fan of the concept but he thinks any club would struggle to go to all six league regattas and continue to do the necessary grassroots work.
Up and coming rowers were brought along very nicely at Neptune’s Grow the Sport regatta last weekend. Neighbours Commercial pleased Minister for Sport Mary Hanafin at the opening of their extended boathouse by stressing their junior and women’s participation. And two of the grand old men of Irish rowing, Jimmy Bermingham and Jimmy O’Toole (now deceased, sadly), had boats named after them.
Out in the wild Atlantic, Seán McGowan was having a whale of a time at sea yesterday. But, after an outstanding week of progress in his Atlantic row, it wasn’t what he wanted.
“For the last couple of hours I have had pilot whales around me. About 50 turned up and are taking fish, so I can’t put the oars in the water.”
It wasn’t the only large body he encountered in recent days. “I had a ship which was due to pass within 20 feet (six metres) of me in the middle of a squall. I was on para anchor (an underwater parachute), which goes out 240 feet (73.2 metres). It was a very close call. I called them on the VHF and as I did the radio blew a fuse.
“Luckily enough they turned and went about 500 metres north of me. I could just about see the silhouette of a ship going by.”
The Limerickman, who hopes to become the first Irish-based oarsman to row solo across an ocean, has been consistently making over 30 nautical miles (56 km) a day. But a call to Englishman James Ketchell, the only other oarsman still at sea, has made McGowan cautious in his predictions about the final stretch.
“I’m about 12 days away (from the finish). But I was talking to James yesterday and he told me that there is a current at around 250 nautical miles (to go) and he got stuck in it for around five days. So even that 12 days (prediction) is risky. We’ll see how we go.”
Ketchell ran out of rations and by taking on food he disqualified himself from the race. McGowan thinks he will avoid this. “I’ve rationed my rations again, and I’m taking a few fish to keep me going. I should be okay. I’ll make it.”
HOME INTERNATIONAL REGATTA (at NRC, Cork, July):Ireland Junior Women's team – Eight: C Cooney, R Morris, A Crowley, N Fehily, L Murphy, A Gilligan, A Hamilton, AM Maguire. cox: C St Ledger. Four: O McGrath, F McGrath, L Connelly, L Hamel. Four, coxed: S Higgins, M McGillycuddy, K O'Brien, A Sheehan (cox to be chosen). Pair: C Cooney, R Morris. Sculling – Quadruple: D Walsh, H Nixon, C Fitzgerald, S Dineen. Double: J Russell, K Cromie. Single: G Collins. Rest of team to be chosen later.
