Irish boss McElroy happy Puspure has proven gloomy prediction wrong

A little over 12 months ago Ireland’s rowing team manager, Martin McElroy, sat in a plush conference room at the top table of a London Olympic briefing.

McElroy was positioned alongside officials from swimming, canoeing and sailing as they outlined their hopes for the Games.

Then the Galway man took to the podium and made a startling admission. With little sugar coating he revealed Ireland would not have a representative in London, that the cupboard was bare in terms of men’s talent at this level and his focus was on Rio in 2016.

When reminded of his address in that Dublin hotel, McElroy grinned: “That would be my way. I would certainly not want to be trying to get ahead of ourselves.”

McElroy is here because Sanita Puspure is here. Latvian born Puspure, who secured Ireland citizenship last year, qualified for the Olympic Games in May in Lucerne and advanced to this morning’s single sculls quarter-finals with a solid opening day performance.

And McElroy isn’t complaining about being wrong with his prediction.

He admitted: “I’m delighted with Sanita’s qualification. There are 28 entries in this event but because of universality arrangements that there are across Olympics sports, realistically only 12 or 13 of those are high performers.

“The rest are coming from small rowing countries like Thailand and so on. She just needed to get that first race out of her system. She did the job. And it was good for her to go out, do the job and get the result that she needs without feeling under huge pressure.”

McElroy and Puspure return to the waters alongside picturesque Eton Dorney this morning with the 30-year-old bidding for a place in the last 12 in the Olympics. And the Irish boss admits this is the crunch event for Ireland’s first female Olympic single sculler since Frances Cryan.

Puspure must finish in the top three of her quarter to make the semi-finals later this week.

“If we are saying there are 12 or 13 scullers [who can be deemed high performers] and you are looking to get to the semi-finals, then that is where those top 12 or 13 scullers get sorted out,” McElroy explained.

“So someone is going to be on the wrong side of those numbers. Obviously that is the one we don’t want to be on the wrong side of. This is what it is all about.’’

But back to McElroy’s point from last year about where Irish rowing resides in international terms. After the peaks of Gearoid Towey et al post the 1996 Games in Atlanta there has come a trough and McElroy reveals his to-do list is to attempt to recapture those glory days, and not just in the men’s side of competition.

“At the last Olympics we had two crews, eight athletes but really those were nearly at the end of a cycle and in some respects the cupboard is bare from the men’s side at the moment.”

Progression to today’s quarters was expected, advancement to the semis would be bonus territory for Puspure, a former World U23 medalist. But McElroy makes no secret of the fact a semi-final spot would create something of a rising tide for the sport at underage and developmental level.

“We have a lot of opportunities for women because there are so many events. We must realise how sport is structured in Ireland with the GAA and rugby and soccer having such a hold.

“For us there is an opportunity in women’s rowing. And we have some good junior girls coming along. So how Sanita does is really important as a role model for those young girls.”