Rowing in together as season gets serious

The National Rowing Centre was tranquil as the water on sun-kissed Inniscarra Lake yesterday with Ireland’s top rowers putting on a united front to launch the international regatta season and kickstart new Rowing Ireland chief executive Michelle McElligott Carpenter’s reign.

Nourishing a golden era of Irish rowing with limited funding is chief among the Limerick woman’s challenges, but a steady flow of success has belied a recent undercurrent of disquiet among the sport’s top performers.

There have been grumbles about funding and the sourcing of equipment while the departures of high performance director Morten Espersen and heavyweight coach Sean Casey in recent times didn’t meet universal approval.