ROWING Gold for Irish Rowers at World Cup Regatta

SILVER FOR MEN’S LIGHTWEIGHT EIGHT, MEN’S HEAVYWEIGHT FOUR WIN ‘B’ FINAL

The Irish men’s lightweight four (LM4-) of Paul Griffin, Eugene Coakley, Richard Archibald and Timmy Harnedy have won gold at the final leg of the Bearing Point Rowing World Cup in Lucerne today. These four have now made Irish rowing history as it is the first time an Irish Olympic class boat has ever won gold at a World Cup regatta. The quartet put in an exceptionally impressive performance to lead from start to finish over the 2000m course, and won with nearly three seconds to spare over the German crew in second, and the Polish four in third.

The result sees a reversal of fortunes from the last regatta in Munich three weeks ago when the same German crew snatched silver from the Irish on the line. The improvement this four have made sine Munich cannot be understated. Under the expert tutelage of new coach Harald Jahrling they concentrated on reworking race tactics to ensure they kept a good rhythm throughout the 2000m, and did not get rowed down on the line, as in Munich.

Speaking after the medal ceremony Jarhling said: “They rowed a good strong race, they used their experience and rowed confidently, keeping the rhythm throughout the boat from the very first stroke until they crossed the line as winners. They have worked very hard over the last few weeks on their racing strategy and gold is a great reward for that effort. We are now looking forward to the World Championships.”

Four boats lined up in the final of the men’s lightweight eight (LM8+) this morning. The Irish crew of Kenny McDonald, Danny O’Dowd, brothers Diarmaid and Siaghal MacColgain, Dave Wallace, Richard Coakley, Andrew Coleman and Johnny Devitt hauled themselves from last over the first 500m to snatch silver from the Japanese eight, the Italians took gold. This silver medal is a great result for this Irish eight, coxed by Bert Farrell, and coached by Tim Levy who are competing in their first World Cup together. However, they needed to take gold in order to be considered for selection for the World Championships, which get underway in less than six weeks time.

The remaining two Irish boats were also in action on the Rotsee Lake today, in their respective B finals. The men’s heavyweight four (M4-) of Cormac Folan, Sean Jacob, Sean Casey and Alan Martin rowed well to win their ‘B’ final with two seconds to spare over the New Zealand four in second, and the Germans in third. The lightweight women’s double (LW2x) of Niamh NiCheilleachair and Heather Boyle had a tough race today and took third place in the ‘B’ final, only two seconds back on winners Greece.

This World Cup series has been one of the most successful for an Irish team in recent times, with four medals in total; two bronze, one silver and one gold. The World Championships in Japan, beginning on the 28th of August cannot come soon enough. Head coach Harald Jahrling, along with his assistant coach Debbie Fox will finalise that team on their return from Lucerne.

Ends

Issued on behalf of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union

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     2005 ROWING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, GIFU, JAPAN 28th Aug-4th Sept.