Rowing’s rising tide at National Championships after Rio lifting all boats

The stretch of water hidden behind Farran Wood rarely looked better than it did yesterday, the lake sparkling in a blazing sun as the National Rowing Championships took place.

Sarah Dineen, of Rowing Ireland, took a break from her duties to explain that while the weekend’s weather may have suited you, the casual reader, to a tee, it didn’t co-operate perfectly with the rowers.

“Saturday was the perfect example of how the weather can affect us. It was sunny but the winds picked up too much for us to continue racing, so while the schedule was due to run to seven o’clock, we had to stop at around two and run those finals today — so the schedule is pretty packed.