Beach Sprints is now an official Olympic rowing discipline - fast, exciting, and unique. Yet in Ireland, trialling procedures do not reflect the true demands of the sport. Instead of testing the power output and speed of rowers as well as the explosive starts, buoy turns, beach running, and short-course tactics required for Beach Sprints, Rowing Ireland’s current trials follow the standard river rowing format.

This approach:

1.  Fails to test the skills and physical abilities specific to Beach Sprints.
2. Leaves athletes unprepared for international competition.
3. Denies a fair, transparent, and discipline-appropriate selection process.

What We’re Asking For

We call on the Board of Rowing Ireland to:

1. Appoint a dedicated Beach Sprints representative with the expertise and experience to effectively develop the discipline within Rowing Ireland.
2. Create and implement a discipline-specific trial format that mirrors international Beach Sprints racing.
3. Engage directly with the beach sprint rowing community to ensure fair and transparent athlete preparation and selection.

Why It Matters

1. Beach Sprints is an Olympic sport - Ireland must be competitive.
2. Athletes deserve equal opportunity to prove themselves in the correct format.
3. The beach sprints coastal rowing community has the talent - it just needs the right process.