Thornton expects ‘flying’ U-23 squad to be competitive in Poland

IRELAND’S rowers open the programme today at the World Under-23 Championships in Poland, where the Malta Lake in Poznan plays host to five days of action.

After last year’s tally amounted to two bronze medals, and with many athletes remaining on the team, hopes are high that the experience will provide a solid foundation for more success this weekend.

David O’Malley and Shane Mulvaney of UCD, who placed third last year in the lightweight pair, head into these championships off the back of a decisive win last month at Cork regatta, where they beat Ireland’s senior pair, Shane O’Driscoll (pictured) and Mark O’Donovan, the reigning world champions.

Niall Beggan and Andrew Goff survive from last year’s bronze medal lightweight quad, and join forces this year with Miles Taylor of Queen’s, Belfast, and Portora-Newcastle’s Ryan Ballantine.

The third lightweight men’s boat is the double scull, with the Skibbereen twins, Jake and Fintan McCarthy, on board, while UCC’s Hugh Sutton, 19, who missed selection for the quad, will race the lightweight single.

Ireland team manager Paul Thornton refused to be drawn on their likely medal prospects.

“They’re flying at the moment – there’s tremendous experience in all the boats, and they’re well used to making the weight, so we’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.

“We hope that all our crews will be competitive” he added.

Ronan Byrne of UCC will race the heavyweight single, but it’s not just the men who are likely to make waves in Poland.

Under the leadership of high performance director, Antonio Maurogiovanni, the team will boat an openweight women’s pair for the first time in four years, and a women’s lightweight double for the first time ever at an Under-23 Championships.

The pair includes UCC’s Emily Hegarty and Tara Hanlon, who have had senior experience this season partnering Aifric Keogh at the World Cup regattas in Belgrade and Lucerne, while the lightweight double includes Skibbereen’s Lydia Heaphy and Margaret Cremen of Lee.

Five of Ireland’s crews race today while the two lightweight doubles have their opening heats tomorrow.