Olympic dreams of Galway rowers are hanging by a thread

STEPHEN GLENNON

THE Olympic dreams – at least for London 2012 – of two Tribesmen rowers hang by a thread following disappointing showings at the World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia over the past fortnight.

Although Lisa Dilleen – and her rowing partner Sanita Puspure – made the ‘B’ final of the women’s heavyweight double, it was total heartbreak for her club-mate Siobhan McCrohan and UCD’s Claire Lambe, who finished at the back in the ‘C’ final of the lightweight double sculls.

McCrohan, a qualified aeronautical engineer who relocated to Cork earlier this year to link up with the National High Performance team to pursue her sporting career, gave the whole country a lift when winning a bronze medal in the lightweight single scull at the final World Cup regatta in Lucerne in July.

However, her partnership with Lambe in the lightweight double scull at the World Championships last week failed to inspire a similar result, with competition fierce in the Olympic qualifying event. “Things didn’t work out,” said Siobhan’s father, Mike. “After a series of poor rows, they ended up in the ‘C’ final. They finished at the tail end of that.

“I suppose, last year, the performances were above expectations, and, consequently, they were aspiring towards one of the top eight places being awarded for qualification to the Olympics. Unfortunately, those expectations couldn’t be realised. She is gutted. She is bitterly, bitterly disappointed.”

In all, 26 countries competed for the eight places available for the Olympics, leading to some “red hot” competition. “Also, there are four or five [qualification] places available to Asia and three or four for South America, but because of a quirk in the system, they can come and have a shot at qualifying and still retain their own allocation.”

That said, McCrohan continues to be one of Ireland’s top rowers and she could still qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London if she – and Lambe – can produce a performance at next May’s Lucerne meet, where two places will be available.

“The reality is that, 18 months ago, the target or aspirations were for the 2016 Olympics (Rio de Janeiro), which would have been more in terms of their ages and so on,” said her father. “So, really, we are now only at the tail end of the first year of a five-year programme. However, with the way results went last year, all of a sudden, those aspirations jumped ahead by four years!

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.