Fiona Murtagh. Pic: Liam Gorman
Fiona Murtagh, the world champion in the single sculls, built on her excellent form with the top performance at the Ireland trial in Cork.
The Galway woman, who recently broke the world record on the ergometer with a time of 6:18.56 for 2,000 metres, headed the rankings at the National Rowing Centre on projected percentage of world’s best time.
Not far behind were the young men’s crew of Jonah Kirby and Jack Rafferty, the world champions in the Under-19 double, now being tested at Under-23 level.
A small group will head off early next week for a special training camp in Sierra Nevada in Spain. Physiologist Lorenz Kissling, who comes from the New Zealand system, will monitor how this group performs at altitude compared to a control group at the NRC.
The programme for the season for the senior athletes will include the World Cup in Lucerne in Switzerland in June and the World Championships in August. Some athletes are also set to compete at the first World Cup in Seville in late May and at the European Championships, which are late this year, in July/August.
The trial was due to stretch into the weekend, but the forecast of bad weather forced the cancellation of the programme for Saturday and Sunday.
Konan Pazzaia headed the rankings on the men’s side. A number of top names did not trial. Olympic champions Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan, and Olympic medallists Daire Lynch and Philip Doyle did not race. Illness also ruled out world gold medallist Mags Cremen.
Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin were Murtagh’s closest challengers in the single sculls, with Sophia Young fourth. The Methody athlete has been an outstanding performer at Under-19 level.