Hughes books his place

ROWING:TURLOUGH HUGHES booked his place in today's quarter-finals of the World Junior Championships with a solid third-place finish in his heat of the single sculls at Racice in the Czech Republic yesterday.

The Westport man, who is Ireland’s sole representative at the championships, was drawn in a heat with the outstanding oarsman of the event. Felix Bach of Germany, the reigning world champion, blasted away from the start and left the field behind him – his eventual winning margin was, extraordinarily, just under 10 seconds.

Hughes, targeting a top-four place which would guarantee automatic qualification, had a slow start and trailed the field in fifth at 500 metres. However, the Irishman was already making his move. He had passed both South Africa and Switzerland by half way, and closed up on second-placed Zygimantas Galisanskis of Lithuania before settling for third. Swiss sculler Philippe Denier finished last and was forced into a repechage.

Hughes, an 18-year-old student at King’s Hospital, will need to finish in the top three of today’s quarter-finals if he is to make the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Ireland may send only an adaptive team to the senior World Championships this year. The event is in late October/early November in New Zealand, and both the timing and the distant location are tricky as a young Ireland team heads into a 2011 season which will be the crucial one in qualifying boats for the Olympics in London in 2012.

“I’d say we’re leaning towards not sending our able-bodied athletes,” said the performance director Martin McElroy, the man who heads up the Ireland system.

The squad are due to begin training again on Monday, and McElroy is focusing on forming a team for the European Championships in Portugal in September.

The achievement of Galway man Ray Carroll and his crewmates in breaking the oldest ocean rowing record – west east from New York – has been honoured in a touching way. Bette Horton, the grand daughter of George Harbo, who set the original record with Frank Samuelsen in 1896, praised the men on the site for ocean rowers, oceanrowing.com.

“Your row is a major milestone and we applaud you for beating the record set 114 years ago,” she said.