Skibbereen step up to the mark

ROWING:DEEMING A collection of Irish regattas a "Grand League" risked tempting fate in a country suspicious of bloated claims. But the hosts of the inaugural event, Skibbereen regatta, stepped up to the mark in fine style yesterday at the National Rowing Centre.

It helped that the event had a huge entry and weather so bright and sunny commentator Dermot Henihan sometimes struggled to identify the boats for the glare on the water.

Ironically, the first two hours of scheduled action were lost to fog, but the big backroom team took it in their stride by abandoning time trials scheduled for that period.

The strengths and weaknesses of the new structures were evident in the men’s eight A final. With only three senior eights competing, this could have been a threadbare affair – but instead it was a six-boat final where a junior 18 eight from St Joseph’s mixed it with the big boys.

“They had a huge win in the (Irish Schools’) regatta yesterday, but today they got a real race,” said John Forde, who rowed at number five in the winning Galway Rowing Club boat.

The weaknesses were also evident in this race, however, as three grades competing in the same race (senior, intermediate and junior) makes for a races-within-a-race problem for the viewer.

The way forward may be colour coding, which should not take from the overall spectacle.

One other issue is the burden on athletes who are in more than one crew of having to row full out in time trials to secure their place in the finals – and then having to be fresh for those finals.

Trinity’s senior eight got the better of UCD in the women’s premier event, reversing the one-length victory of their keen rivals the previous day in the University Championships.

UCD had a spectacularly successful day at those Championships, at the same venue.

While Queen’s University won the men’s senior eight by one an a half lengths from the Dublin college, the men in blue and saffron took the Wylie Cup for men by winning the other two eights, at novice and intermediate.

The Bank of Ireland trophy for women was landed with wins in the senior and intermediate eight, and the UCD, with 63 points, were well ahead of nearest challengers Queen’s (47) in the overall rankings.

The Irish Schools’ regatta, run in conjunctions with the universities’ championships, had a much improved entry this year, with almost 40 schools taking part.