Irish to go in Head of the Charles

ROWING: One of the most famous of all rowing events, the Head of the Charles River in Boston, takes places tomorrow and Sunday, with a number of crews from around the country flying the flag for Ireland. Liam Gorman reports.

NUI Galway will go off second in this time-trial event to University of Tennessee in the women's club eights in a contest scheduled to start at 12.28 Boston time tomorrow (5.28pm Irish).

Tribesmen of Galway go off 21st in the senior masters eight, and Dublin's Neptune 27th. Shandon of Cork have entered the club eights for men and are slotted in at 46th.

Back on home water, the Offaly Scullers Head in Tullamore has drawn an impressive 86 entries in only its second year as an open event. The four heads feature mostly junior athletes, but Joanne Moran, who is back in Ireland after a time studying in Sunderland, will be able to measure her progress as she bids to find a way into the Ireland set-up.

Local man Rory O'Connor recently won the Leinster regional time trial in Blessington and would be a strong favourite to be the fastest competitor. But Ciarán Brady, a 17-year-old student from the town, was less than a minute behind O'Connor at Blessington and was ranked sixth on the day, so he should keep his clubmate on his toes.

The rise of young talent in the sport has been noticeable in the last few years. At the recent agm of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union (IARU), one contribution from the floor was that parents of juniors who reach the top level were not being facilitated.

Christy O'Brien said "very little consideration" was given to parents in the timing of trials and training camps.

Another side to this development is the need for proper structures to deal with children and young adults. The board of the IARU last weekend decided that coach education tutors should also be able to give code of ethics courses.

The growing number of women in the sport is reflected in the union's administration. Robin Winkels is coach education tutor; Lisa O'Callaghan the chair of the domestic events committee and Rachel Liu chair of the universities' committee. Siobhán Jacob is the medical officer of the union.