McCrohan rows her way to bronze at Lucerne Regatta

Date Published: {J}

Galway rower Siobhán McCrohan took bronze in the Lightweight Single Scull at the Lucerne Regatta in Switzerland over the weekend.

Three Galway rowers were in action at the prestigious regatta, the third of the World Cup series – Tribesmen’s McCrohan was joined by clubmate Lisa Dilleen, who featured in the Double Scull; while NUI Galway’s Niall Kenny just missed out on a bronze medal with the Lightweight Quad Scull.

McCrohan, scheduled for the first race in the regatta on Friday had a most inauspicious start, failing to qualify directly for the semi finals As a result she had to negotiate the repechage where, though pressed by the Japanese to half way, took over to win and secure one of the last of the semi-final places.

A strong semi-final performance, finishing second, earned her a lane in the A-Final in the last six. Ironically, four of the six finalists were from that fraught heat.

In a final replete with World and European medallists, McCrohan was initially fourth, briefly in fifth before forcing her boat to third place at the 1,500m mark.

She briefly held second, making inroads on the leading Greek, Alexandrs Tsiavou, but was pipped on the run-in to the line by the fast finishing Pamela Weisshaupt of Switzerland.

In 2010, McCrohan finished sixth at the same venue, and Saturday’s result shows real progress.

The Women’s Double Scull of Lisa Dilleen, just turned 20, and Sanita Puspure, 10 years her senior, hoped to emulate a good set of results in Munich.

The big guns were in action in their heat and, though the Irish boat held second for a period, fell away to fifth, and a date with the repechage. A strong second place in the repechage earned a semi-final berth.

In the event, they finished 5th in the ‘B’ final for an 11th place overall.

The remaining Galway interest centred around the men’s lightweight Quad Scull, in which Kenny and his crewmates competed in a straight final.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.