PUSPURE GOES IN PURSUIT OF EURO ROWING GOLD IN POZNAN

DOUBLE world champion Sanita Puspure heads a squad of 13 Irish rowers looking for success at the European Championships in Poznan, Poland, this weekend.

The international rowing season has been decimated by the pandemic but the event has attracted 570 athletes from 31 nations, all looking forward to getting some competitive action under their belts before the season ends.

Puspure (inset) looks set to repeat her success at the Europeans, where she won gold last year in Lucerne, while her arch-rivals Jeannine Gmelin of Switzerland and Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig will be looking for revenge after a disappointing World Championships last year.

Another sculler looking to make her mark will be 21-year-old Greek Anneta Kyridou, who is stepping into the senior single after winning the U-23 title last year in the double scull.

A revamped Irish women’s four sees Aifric Keogh and Eimear Lambe from last year’s crew joined by Aileen Crowley from the 2019 pair, with Fiona Murtagh in the stroke seat. The strong field is likely to be dominated by the Netherlands and Denmark, who shared the podium last year with the gold medallists Australia.

The new men’s double of Ronan Byrne and Daire Lynch won gold at the European U-23s in Germany and will be up for the challenge in this senior field, where Poland’s Miroslaw Zietarski and Mateusz Biskup are hot favourites after placing third last year at the senior Worlds.

Another of Ireland’s successful U-23 crews are also in action, with Tara Hanlon and Emily Hegarty contesting a small field of just ten crews in the women’s pair. The duo won silver in last year’s U-23 four before winning bronze at last month’s European U-23 event, but will need to watch out for the favourites, Spain and Greece.

In the lightweight women’s double sculls, Margaret Cremen,

21, and Aoife Casey, also 21, maintain their successful combination which started three years ago at the World Juniors in Lithuania.

They won silver in Germany last month, and it’s the German veteran Marie-Louise Draeger, 39, who is looking set for a strong performance with her partner Fini Sturm, while the Netherlands Ilse Paulis and Marieke Keijser will also be challenging for the podium.

In the lightweight singles, Fintan McCarthy steps out from the 2019 gold medal double, while Lydia Heaphy contests the women’s event after winning gold with Clíodhna Nolan last month in the pair.