There was to be no joy for all three Irish crews in this evening's final Olympic qualifcation regatta finals as single sculler Sean Casey and the pairings of Heather Boyle and Sinead Jennings, and Derek Holland and Neil Casey were outgunned at the last chance saloon for Athens.
In the Men’s Single Sculls final of the last Olympic Qualifer Kerry’s Sean Casey gave an incredibly gutsy performance in a exceptionally competitive race but missed out on one of the three qualification places by finishing 6th. Casey, who won his repechage yesterday just failed to keep pace with the leaders and finished the race in a time of 7.02.97, just over seven seconds short of qualification.
The Bulgarian who fronted the field from the start took the first spot with Belgium and Great Britian in second and third respectively.
Following Sean’s effort, lightweights Casey and Holland faced into their final amongst some of the best heavyweights in the world and also finished in 6th place. The German crew took the first Athens spot leaving the Argentinian and favoured Polish crews to battle it out for the crucial second spot with the Argentinians snatching the last qualification spot on the line, thrilling the considerable crowd on the river bank in the process.
Dublin pair Neil Casey and Derek Holland excelled themselves to reach the heavyweight final considering they conceded almost 40 kilos per boat to their opposite numbers. Twelve heavyweight boats were in contention for the 2 qualifying spots and for the Irish lightweights to have reached the top six is an accomplishment to be applauded.
There was heartbreak for Sinéad Jennings and Heather Boyle in the final of the Women's Double Sculls finishing in fourth place, crucially missing out on one of the two qualifying spots for Athens. The pair held second position until the final 500 metres but were outsmarted by the Danish and Finnish crews. The Polish women won the final to qualify for the Olympics, now only 59 days away, with the Danes taking the second spot ahead of the double from Finland.
Last summer at the World Championships in Milan Ireland qualifed two boats for Athens; the Lightweight Men's Double Sculls of Sam Lynch and Gearoid Towey and the Lightweight Men's Four.
Filed by Barry J Whyte
