Sport

Rowing: Good placings for Irish contenders at the Head of the Charles

Michelle Carpenter of Rowing Ireland joins steering committee of 20x20 campaign

Ireland’s Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan will go off first in the men’s Championship Doubles at the Head of the Charles regatta in Boston on Saturday. Photograph: Craig Watson/Inpho
Ireland’s Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan will go off first in the men’s Championship Doubles at the Head of the Charles regatta in Boston on Saturday. Photograph: Craig Watson/Inpho
Liam Gorman's picture
Liam Gorman
Thu Oct 18 2018 - 20:40

Internationals and club crews from Ireland will compete in numbers at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston this weekend. It is a big event run on a time-trial basis, and on Saturday the races come thick and fast for the Irish. They have some good placings in the race order.

Mark O'Donovan and Shane O'Driscoll go off first in the men's Championship Doubles, while two races later Gary O'Donovan is set to go off sixth in the men's Championship Singles. This event has a strong entry: New Zealand's Robbie Manson, who set the record for the world's best time in the single, goes off two places before him, while 2016 Olympic silver medallist Damir Martin takes to the water two behind him. In the women's lightweight single sculls, Orla Hayes will keep the Skibbereen flag flying.

Trinity go in the men's club eight, and their old boys' club, Lady Elizabeth, joins Shandon and Shannon (a US-based crew) in masters action.

On Sunday, Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll are part of an Irish crew in the Directors’ Challenge men’s quads.

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Women rowers

Women’s sport has been in the spotlight. The 20x20 campaign aims to increase coverage, attendance and participation in women’s sport by 20 per cent.

Michelle Carpenter

, the chief executive of Rowing Ireland, is on the steering committee. She was named by Sport for Business as one of 50 women of influence in sport.

Carpenter was a major player in building up the Get Going Get Rowing programme, which introduces young people to the sport. Their Blitz in Trinity College will draw hundreds of participants this Thursday: last year, 900 people took part.

Fermoy weir

Lough Rinn

rowing and canoeing course has been shortlisted for a prize in the

Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards 2018

, while the rebuild of the Fermoy weir looks a more certain prospect after developments this week.

Sean Kyne

, the outgoing Minister of State with responsibility for natural resources, visited the town and assured the interested parties that his department was backing the development of the weir and the fish pass.

Fermoy rowing club is happy with the plan as long as it does not radically lower the level of the river Blackwater. Sean Canney TD has taken over responsibility for the area.