The biggest rowing regatta on the Galway sporting calendar, the Tribesmen Head of the River, is set for a new competitive edge when it gets underway on Saturday.
This year’s event, which sees the end of the Head of the River winter season, will also include the national eights and national fours heads -a new initiative by Rowing Ireland to recognise Head of the River “champions” in eights, fours and sculls. As a result more than 260 crews will compete for honours, and, although a handful of crews will be missing due to an unavoidable clash with the London Head, stiff competition is assured.
NUIG, whose crew includes Beijing Olympians Cormac Folan and Alan Martin, will enter the eights event as favourites, but they will face stiff competition from the Marc Stephens-stroked Galway RC boat, as well as a Galway/Commercial composite, and an unknown quantity in the University of Limerick boat. The NUIG senior fours of Martin, Mannion, Folan and Wall are also considered favourites, and their main threat is expected to come from neighbours Galway.
In the absence of Bann, the men’s junior event is likely to produce a three-way battle between St Joseph’s, Cork Boat Club and Presentation Coll, Cork.
In the women’s senior ranks, Commercial, winners this week in Dublin, will be among the front runners, though the local composite of NUIG/Tribesmen will prove a threat in both eights and fours.
Locals are likely to hold sway in the non “national” sculling events in which NUIG’s Liam Molloy will be the one to watch, while a fascinating duel is likely to take place between Tribesmen’s open-weight Lisa Dilleen and lightweight Siobhan McCrohan.
A notable feature this year is the increase in sculling popularity, especially among novices and the 15/16-year-olds, with 170 of the total entry of 263 boats competing in sculling events.
In a rare outing, Carlowman and Olympian Sean Drea is expected to take to the water on Saturday in his single scull. It is anticipated he will cross the finishing line at about 4pm on Saturday afternoon. A three-time winner of the Diamond sculls at Henley ’73-’75, a feat unequalled since, Drea is also a World Championship silver medallist (1975 ) and was fourth in the Olympics (1976 ).
The Head of the River format is a time trial with crews setting off at intervals – typically 15 seconds- and timed over a 4.35km course.
In total 864 rowers will compete on the day.
