The Irish rowing team begin their international season tomorrow morning when they take to the water in the first of the three-leg Rowing World Cup Series at the Munich Olympic Rowing Course (25th May).
Eight Irish boats, all of them in Olympic boat categories, compete in this the first chance to test the 2006 field. A record entry of 750 athletes from 46 nations will compete over the next three days at the 1972 Olympic venue, with a notably high entry of 23 crews from China, with the Beijing Olympics on the horizon.
Speaking ahead of tonight's race draw Irish team manager Mick O'Callaghan said: "The athletes are all really looking forward to racing starting tomorrow, after putting in the endless hours of hard work during gruelling pre-season training over the winter months. With little wind forecast over the coming days conditions are great for racing and with all the top crews here it'll give us a great feel for where we stand as we build for Eton."
The men's lightweight four (LM4-), sees only one change from the crew that won silver at last year's World Championships with Gearoid Towey, fresh from his Atlantic Challenge adventure coming in for Skibbereen's Tim Harnedy. Harnedy underwent surgery recently for an ankle injury and is expected to be fit to compete in a lightweight double at the next leg of World Cup in Poznan, Poland.
Two Irish men's lightweight doubles (LM2x) of Eoghan Garvey and Johnny Devitt, David Heffernan and Diarmaid MacColgain, both new combinations, are also set to compete in Munich as part of the quest to find the ideal combination for that boat.The women's equivalent (LW2x) sees Offaly's Niamh Ni Cheilleachair partner former single sculls World Champion Sinéad Jennings (St.Michael's).
In the heavyweight category Caroline Ryan competes in the single scull, in her first regatta as part of the Irish senior squad. The men's heavyweight four (M4-), who finished tenth in last year's Worlds also see one change from that crew with Con Collis coming in for Sean Casey who now partners Irish newcomer Sean O'Neill in the heavyweight pair (M2-).The Irish Under 23 heavyweight four will also compete in Munich using the regatta as a chance to get race experience ahead of the Under23 World Championships which being on 20th July in Belgium.
The overall World Cup champions are determined after a series of three regattas (Munich, Poznan in June & Lucerne in July) with the centrepiece of the International season the World Championships in Eton, Great Britain beginning August 20th.
