Senior eights top bill at Neptune

Irish rowing is facing into its busiest weekend this year so far. The Neptune and Commercial regattas and the Skibbereen head of the river provide the action on the water, and there is an extraordinary general meeting of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union scheduled for Saturday in Dublin.

The e.g.m. is fixed for the Ashling Hotel on Parkgate Street, at midday, while the Neptune regatta will be in full swing nearby at Islandbridge - the plan is that the e.g.m. should be relatively brief as it is a single-issue meeting. Delegates from the clubs will vote to adopt or reject the strategic plan for the union drawn up in line with the requirement for such a plan by Minister for Sport, Dr Jim McDaid. The impact of the vote will also be lessened by the fact that rule changes cannot be made until 2001.

Much of the focus at Neptune will be on the senior eights, and the draw has certainly yielded attractive pairings: highest-rated rivals Neptune and Trinity cannot meet until the final, fixed for 4.36 p.m. - but getting there may be far from easy, especially for Trinity, who face Commercial first and would then need to beat the winners of Garda and Neptune B in the semi-final.

Garda will be disappointed to have been pipped by UCC for the distinction of being the second-placed Irish crew at the London head, where Trinity did not compete, and should be out to show their true colours.

However, the top-class Neptune A crew, fresh from their fine performance in London - they finished eighth - should still be the ones to watch. They have a bye to the semi-final where they will meet the winners of UCD and a NUI /Tribesmen composite. Neptune's Albert Maher is unavailable, and Jim Cassidy replaces him.

The emphasis on Sunday at Commercial, which has over 130 entries, will be on the smaller boats, as might be expected at Ireland's foremost sculling club. At the other end of the country on the same day, Skibbereen's head will have a strong representation from clubs outside Dublin.