#ROWING: Sanita Puspure is the Afloat Rower of the Month for May. The Old Collegians single sculler put Ireland back on the map in this prestigious discipline when she took bronze at the European Championships, which ran from May 30th to June 1st. She finished third in her heat, behind Olympic champion Mirka Knapkova and Chantal Achterberg of the Netherlands, but then won her repechage and placed a steady second in her semi-final. Puspure went on to reproduce the good form she had been showing in training in the final, just .3 of a second behind gold medallist Knapkova and 0.02 behind fast-finishing Achterberg.
The achievement brought Ireland its first senior medal at a major Championships for a female openweight competitor.
Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2014. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2014 champions list grow.