Displaying items by tag: McElroy,
Rowing Ireland Looks for New HPD as McElroy Steps Down
# ROWING: Martin McElroy, the Ireland High Performance Director, will not be seeking renewal of his contract when it finishes at the end of next month. The Galway man took up work as HPD in 2009, stressing that his priority was to build a sustainable system, and one which would outlast him.
Forming a strong under-23 group was a priority, and there were successes here, including a silver medal for the men’s lightweight quadruple at the World Under-23 Championships in 2010. Ten athletes represented Ireland at this year’s World Under-23 Championships.
A team of coaches was also formed and the National Rowing Centre became the base for an ambitious group of athletes.
However, just one senior athlete competed for Ireland at the Olympic Games - Sanita Puspure finished 13th in the single sculls. The strong hopes for the lightweight double scull of Siobhan McCrohan and Claire Lambe ended controversially when McCrohan was cut because of difficulties making the weight.
Rowing Ireland has advertised for a new HPD, with entries closing on September 14th.
Top Junior Rowers Nixon and Cromie Win US Scholarships
ROWING: The prizegiving at the National Assessment Regatta at the NRC in Cork contained an announcement by Martin McElroy of the High Performance Programme that two Irish teenagers have landed full scholarships at American universities. Holly Nixon, a silver medallist at last year’s World Junior Championships, will be going to the University of Virginia, while Katie Cromie has been granted a scholarship to the University of Michigan. Nixon has now moved up from junior.
Rowing Ireland Prize-Giving
Men
Under-23 Pair: Sean O’Connor, Eddie Mullarkey. Junior: Joel Cassells, Chris Black
Single Scull – Senior: Justin Ryan. Junior: Paul O’Donovan
Women
Pair – Junior: Hanna McCarthy, Hanna O’Sullivan
Single Scull – Senior: Sanita Puspure. Junior: Bridget Jacques
Irish Assessments, National Rowing Centre, Cork – Day Two
Selected Results (includes projected per centage of gold-medal winning time in athletes’ class)
Men
Pair – A Final: 1 S O’Connor/E Mullarkey (under-23) 7:25.6 (85.6), 2 J Cassells/C Black (junior) 7:27.1 (87.4), 3 H Millar/L Seaman (junior) 7:34.0 (86.0). B Final: K Keohane/N Crowley (jun) 7:43.0 (84.4). C Final: D McCarthy/M Kelly (jun) 8:00.8 (81.2).
Single Sculls – A Final: 1 J Ryan (under-23 lightweight) 7:57.4 (85.9), 2 M Maher (lightweight) 7:58.7 (83.6), 3 A English (lightweight) 7:59.2 (83.5), 4 P O’Donovan (junior) 8:04.0 (85.1), 5 Jonathan Mitchell (under-23 lightweight) 8:15.0 (82.8), 6 D Quinlan (jun) 8:32.4 (80.3). B Final: 1 S O’Driscoll (under-23 lightweight) 7:56.2 (86.1), 2 A Griffin (jun) 7:56.4 (86.4), 3 M Ryan (jun) 8:03.1 (85.2). C Final: A Burns (jun) 7:53.1 (87.0). D Final: F Manning (sen) 7:58.7 (83.1). E Final: G McKillen (jun) 8:16.3 (82.9).
Women
Pair – A Final (all juniors): 1 H McCarthy/H O’Sullivan 8:28.5 (84.7), 2 B Edgar/E Hutchinson 8:29.0 (84.6), 3 A Cooper/K O’Connor 8:31.8 (84.1).
Single Scull – A Final: 1 S Puspure (heavyweight) 8:25.6 (84.1), 2 B Jacques (jun) 8:37.7 (86.1), 3 M Dukarska (under-23 heavyweight) 8:38.1 (84.0), 4 S Dolan (under-23 lightweight) 8:50.3 (85.1), 5 H Shinnick (jun) 8:53.6 (83.6), 6 K Cromie (jun) 8:59.1 (82.7). B Final: K O’Brien (jun) 8:42.7 (85.3). C Final: F Murtagh (jun) 8:38.1 (86.1). D Final: M McLaughlin 8:56.5 (83.1).
