ROWING Ireland's adaptive rowers get ready for battle at World Championships in New Zealand

Irish adaptive rowers are gathered in New Zealand in preparation for the World Rowing Championships which takes place at Lake Karapiro over the next week from the 30th October to the 7th November.

Ireland will compete in two categories, the AS Men’s Singles and the Mixed Fours.

City of Derry rower Karol Doherty, from Carndonagh, Donegal, will race in the adaptive men’s singles (AS Mens 1x).

Doherty, who has been rowing for just a year and a half, has made an immediate impact at international level with significant results this year winning the B final at the Varese International while taking the runners up spot in the B final at the World Cup in Bled, Slovenia earlier this year.

The mixed four is made up of S: Kevin duToit (Reading BC), Shane Ryan ( Castleconnell BC), Sarah Caffrey (Barnes Bridge Ladies BC) and Anne-Marie McDaid (Dublin Municipal RC) along with cox Helen Arbuthnot (Molesey BC).

The mixed four crew achieved silver medal status at the Varese International Regatta in Italy and took fourth place at the World Cup Regatta in Bled, Slovenia earlier this year.

Team Manager Joe Cunningham said, “The preparations have been extensive. The weather has been exceptionally good, the team have been training extremely hard and everyone is tightly focused on the task ahead.”