Ireland’s lightweight men’s quadruple won their repechage at the World Rowing Championships in Bled in Slovenia today with a dominant performance. The crew of Niall Kenny, Michael Maher, Justin Ryan and Mark O’Donovan took the lead by 500 metres and owned the race from there. Four crews qualified from five in this race to join heat winners Italy and Germany in the A Final. This Irish crew, who took silver at last year’s World Under-23 Championships, have made it clear they intend to be serious challengers come Sunday's final.

World Rowing Championships, Bled, Slovenia – Day Four (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Quadruple Scull – Repechage (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (N Kenny, M Maher, J Ryan, M O’Donovan) 5:59.00, 2 Denmark 6:01.10, 3 United States 6:02.14, 4 Hungary 6:09.47; 5 Armenia 6:49.97. Poland did not start.

Ireland’s double scull of Lisa Dilleen and Sanita Puspure seized the day yesterday. They took second in their repechage at the World Rowing Championships at Bled in Slovenia and thus grabbed a place in the A/B semi-finals. This means they are still in contention for a top eight place at the Championships, which would qualify the boat for next year’s Olympic Games.

The repechage was won by Sarah Trowbridge and Kathleen Bertko of the United States, and Ireland battled with Switzerland before taking control of the second qualification place. But Denmark pushed Dilleen and Puspure hard over the last three hundred metres, only to find the Ireland athletes refusing to yield.

World Rowing Championships, Bled, Slovenia – Day Three (Irish interest)

Women

Double Scull – Repechage One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 United States (S Trowbridge, K Bertko) 6:58.68, 2 Ireland (L Dilleen, S Puspure) 7:01.04; 3 Denmark 7:01.86, 4 Switzerland 7:07.41, 5 Greece 7:12.66, 6 Lithuania 7:16.31.

Lightweight Single Scull – Repechage Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Hungary (Z Hajdu) 7:59.26, 2 Algeria (A Rouba) 8:02.40; 3 Ireland (S Dolan) 8:06.35, 4 Thailand 8:08.52, 5 Portugal 8:10.73, 6 El Salvador 8:17.08.

Sarah Dolan took third place in her repechage of the lightweight single sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Bled in Slovenia today. The 21-year-old Trinity student could not make it into the top two which would put her into the A/B Semi-Finals, but she prevailed in a battle for third with Thailand’s Phuttharaska Nikree. Dolan’s next challenge is set to be a C/D semi-final.

World Rowing Championships, Bled, Slovenia – Day Three (Irish interest)

Women

Lightweight Single Scull – Repechage Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Hungary (Z Hajdu) 7:59.26, 2 Algeria (A Rouba) 8:02.40; 3 Ireland (S Dolan) 8:06.35, 4 Thailand 8:08.52, 5 Portugal 8:10.73, 6 El Salvador 8:17.08.

 

Ireland’s lightweight double scull of Siobhan McCrohan and Claire Lambe finished fifth in their heat at the World Rowing Championships in Bled in Slovenia today. Britain won the race and took the direct route to the A/B semi-final, while Ireland move on to a repechage.

The Ireland lightweight quadruple scull of Niall Kenny, Michael Maher, Justin Ryan and Mark O’Donovan finished second in their heat. Germany took the one qualification place on offer.

World Rowing Championships, Bled, Slovenia – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men – Lightweight Quadruple Scull – Heat One (First Directly to A Final: rest to Repechage); 1 Germany 5:59.98, 2 Ireland (N Kenny, M Maher, J Ryan, M O’Donovan) 6:03.05, 3 United States 6:08.81, 4 Armenia 7:03.70

Women – Lightweight Double Scull – Heat Three (First Directly to A/B Semi-Final): 1 Britain 7:02.03; 2 New Zealand 7:02.88, 3 Netherlands 7:07.47, 4 Sweden 7:10.96, 5 Ireland (S McCrohan, C Lambe) 7:16.14, 6 Czech Republic 7:39.70.

Adaptive – Legs, Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed Four – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Final): 1 Britain 3:28.27, 2 Ireland (A-M McDaid, S Caffrey, S Ryan, K du Toit; cox: H Arbuthnot) 3:35.33; 3 Brazil 3:43.52, 4 Poland 3:49.13, 5 South Africa 4:03.41, 6 Belarus 4:24.31.

Ireland’s Adaptive Four qualified directly for the A/B Semi-Finals at the World Rowing Championships with a good second-place finish in their heat this morning. The crew of Anne-Marie McDaid, Sarah Caffrey, Shane Ryan, Kevin du Toit and cox Helen Arbuthnot knew a place in the top two would suffice and they tracked pace-setters Britain down the 1,000 metres course and saw off a challenge from Brazil.

The Ireland crew are targeting a place in the top eight in this category, the Legs, Trunk and Arms mixed coxed four. This would qualify them for the Paralympic Games in London next year.

World Rowing Championships, Bled, Slovenia – Day Two (Irish interest)

Adaptive – Legs, Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed Four – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Final): 1 Britain 3:28.27, 2 Ireland (A-M McDaid, S Caffrey, S Ryan, K du Toit; cox: H Arbuthnot) 3:35.33; 3 Brazil 3:43.52, 4 Poland 3:49.13, 5 South Africa 4:03.41, 6 Belarus 4:24.31.

Five crews have entered for the World Rowing Championships which takes place in Bled, Slovenia next week.

Two womens' boats will compete for Olympic qualification, another is seeking Paralympics qualification and two boats are entered in non-Olympic world championship events.

The boats with ambition for Olympic qualification are the lightweight double scull of Claire Lambe and Siobhan McCrohan and the openweight women's double scull of Sanita Puspure and Lisa Dilleen.

With lightweight double sculls being the only boat class for lightweight women, the entry of 26 boats will generate intense competition for the eight Olympic places on offer this year. Lambe and McCrohan, who came fourth at last year's European championships, will be competitive for one of these Olympic places, but it will be very tight with any mistakes or errors making a dramatic difference in final results.

Similarly the openweight women's double scull has eight Olympic places on offer with 19 entries. The newly formed double scull is a partnership between Dilleen, a 20 year old from Galway, who came fourth in the World Junior Rowing Championships two years ago; and Sanita Puspure, a recently naturalised Irish citizen from Latvia. In 2003, Puspure was a bronze medallist for Latvia at under 23 level. The Irish pair  finished fifth at the first World Cup earlier this summer in Munich, followed by an eleventh place in Lucerne.

For the first time, Ireland has a boat attempting qualification for next year's London  Paralympic games in the form of a mixed coxed four crew in the legs, trunk, and arms (LTA) category. There are 16 entries with 8 qualifying. Ireland's boat finished fifth at the 2010 World Rowing Championships, and whilst the number of entrants has increased this year, the crew have a good chance of making the first eight to qualify.

Performance director Martin McElroy, an Olympic gold medal winning coach with the British team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, said today, "Only our adaptive athletes went to the 2010 World Rowing championships. For all the others competing, it's a first time experience, and in an Olympic qualification year that's a big ask."

"When I started in my role as performance director in 2009, I knew we were missing a generation of athletes.  A look at the age demographic of our team confirms that. However I am very pleased that we have a young ambitious group of athletes who are willing to take it on and it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that one or more of the boats may qualify. It's a big ask but it's not impossible. Added to that, we have a Paralympic boat seeking qualification for the first time"

The men's lightweight quadruple scull contains the same line-up that won a silver medal at the 2010 World Under-23 Rowing Championships. A strategic decision was taken to favour the non-Olympic boat class for these young athletes in order to continue their international development.

Performance director, Martin McElroy explained, "The choice was to risk immersing these young athletes in the cauldron of Olympic lightweight class boats which are amongst the most competitive classes in the Olympic regatta and create a very negative experience early in their careers, or take a more measured approach to their development and transition to the senior level through the non-Olympic boat classes."

"It was clear to us that we did not have a boat that would be close to qualification at this time and we discussed this openly with the squad. With 34 entries and only 11 to qualify, I'm satisfied that we've taken the right decision. These young athletes can compete positively in the quadruple scull event and continue taking the steps necessary to transition successfully from under 23 to senior."

Sarah Dolan a 21-year old Trinity college engineering student races in the women's lightweight single scull, an event with 22 entries.

Holly Nixon gave Ireland a first ever medal at the World Rowing Junior Championships this morning. The 17-year-old from Enniskillen produced another brilliant display to take silver in the lightweight single scull at Dorney Lake in England, pushing Germany’s Anne Beenken right to the line.

Ireland also had fourth place in junior men’s single scull. Paul O’Donovan was just .32 of a second off a bronze medal in a thrilling finish of a race won by Stephan Riemekasten of Germany.

World Rowing Junior Championships – Finals (Irish Interest)

Men

Junior Single Scull – A Final: 1 Germany (S Riemekasten) 7:03.41, 2 Greece (A Dafnis) 7:05.42, 3 Ukraine (A Mykhailov) 7:05.78; 4 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:06.10, 5 Latvia 7:18.57, 6 Switzerland  7:21.38. 

Women

Junior Single Scull – A Final: 1 Germany (A Beenken) 7:58.00, 2 Ireland (H Nixon) 7:59.56, 3 Latvia (E Gulbe) 8:02.62; 4 Italy 7:06.10, 5 Denmark 8:10.75, 6 Czech Republic 8:17.94.

The programme at the World Rowing Junior Championships at Dorney Lake in England was brought forward again this morning because of concerns about the weather. The A Final of the junior women’s single scull, with Holly Nixon taking part, is now set for 10.35 and the men’s single scull, featuring Paul O’Donovan, has been set for 10.50.

Ireland will send four crews to the World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia, which begin on Sunday, August 28th. The women’s double of Lisa Dilleen and Sanita Puspure and the lightweight women’s double of Siobhan McCrohan and Claire Lambe will be hoping to qualify their boats for the Olympic Games next year. Both crews must finish in the top eight to achieve this.

 

Bled, August 28th to September 4th 2011.
Rowing Ireland is pleased to announce the following boats will compete.
Lightweight Women’s Double Scull – LW2X
Claire Lambe
University College Dublin Ladies Boat Club
Siobhan McCrohan
Tribesman Rowing Club, Galway
Adaptive Coxed Four – LTAMix4+
Anne Marie McDaid
Commercial Rowing Club, Dublin
Sarah Caffrey
Castelconnell Boat Club
Shane Ryan
Castelconnell Boat Club
Kevin Du Toit
Castelconnell Boat Club
Helen Arbuthnot - coxwain
Castleconnell Boat Club
Women’s Double Sculls – W2X
Lisa Dilleen
Cork Institute of Technology Rowing Club
Sanita Puspure
Old Collegians Boat Club
Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls – LM4X
Niall Kenny
National University Galway Rowing Club
Micheal Maher
Three Castles Rowing Club, Blessington
Justin Ryan
University College Cork Rowing Club
Mark O’Donovan
Cork Institute of Technology Rowing Club

 

Because of worries about weather conditions tomorrow (Sunday) the programme of the World Rowing Junior Championships at Dorney Lake in England has been changed. The women's junior single scull A Final, which features Holly Nixon, is now scheduled for 11.30 and the junior men's final, with Paul O'Donovan, for 11.45.