The Ireland team for the World Rowing Championships flies out to Bulgaria today (Tuesday). The team of 18 athletes in eight crews is one of the biggest the country has chosen. They returned from training camps in Italy and Spain and had a quick turnaround before departing again.
Single sculler Sanita Puspure and the lightweight double of Paul and Gary O'Donovan are the top hopes for medals in Plovdiv. The O'Donovans start their programme on Sunday.
The Championships has an entry of 900 athletes from 62 countries.
One of Ireland's top club coaches, David Mannion, has left NUIG and will start a job as a lead coach with Tideway Scullers' in London on September 8th. The NUIG coach from 2012 to 2018 and a multiple championship winner with the college has moved quickly.
Mannion told The Irish Times the change was a chance for him to concentrate on long term development. He also spoke of the funding of the sport in Ireland being a central problem. He had not been a key part of the High Performance system and said that the chance of building a paying career outside that system in Ireland was low.
