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Sailing

June 2010

The Irish Adaptive rowing team recently travelled to Bled in Slovenia compete in the World Cup Regatta series and so were unfortunately unavailable to participate in the indoor rowing event at the May Games.

However the LTA (Legs, Trunk and Arms) mixed coxed four team once again competed really well. There are two rowers with a visual impairment in the boat at present, Shane Ryan and Sarah Caffrey.

They competed in the heats on the first day and as only one team (the UK boat who were the eventual outright winners) went through directly to the final the Irish boat had to row again in the semi-final. They came second in this race and so were into the final. During the final they raced extremely well. After a three boat tussle with Germany and Ukraine for the silver and bronze positions were only barely beaten into fourth place – less than a second keeping them off the podium. Their performance was not without some reward however, as it led to a decision being made to proceed with an entry for the boat into the World Championships in New Zealand in November. This is a great achievement for the team who are competing with their able bodied peers for selection to attend events and the decisions are made largely based on the boat performance within their events and their potential to achieve medal success. Being so close on this occasion bodes well for the development of this team who are well on their way to becoming a major force in this event on the World Stage.