IT was yet another year to remember for Kerry’s first Olympic rower, Paul Griffin.
The Fossa native added a coveted bronze medal to his bulging collection after inspiring the Irish Lightweight Coxless Fours to a dramatic third place in the World Championship final in late August.
In a thrilling race in Eton, London, Griffin, at stroke, and his Irish crew mates, Gearóid Towey, Eugene Coakley and Richard Archibald, were agonisingly pipped for second place by the reigning world champions, France.
With the China crew romping to gold, the Irish crew was right on course for silver but was deprived of that goal, right on the line, by a never-say-die France crew.
Although the Irish quartet was very unlucky to be edged out of second place, this podium finish consolidates their current status as one of the top crews in the world.
Griffin and co, who are the reigning World Cup champions after a fantastic season to date, were one of the favourites to win the event heading into the World Championships but it was the Chinese crew that proved to be their nemesis throughout the championships.
The Chinese quartet, who pipped the Irish four in the opening heat of Griffin’s World Championship odyssey, resulting in Ireland having to embark on the repechage route in order to win, won the gold medal in a time of five minutes
49.43 seconds.
France finished second, a second and a half down on the winners, snatching silver from the Irish four on the line by a sheer nine hundredths of a second.
Griffin, who already has a silver medal from 2005’s World Championships, was cheered on by a large Killarney support of family and friends who made the short trek to London to support the 27-year-old sporting hero.
This finish also kept the Irish Lightweight Fours on track for a medal finish in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Griffin and his crew had already won gold at the World Cup regatta prior to the championships - the first time that an Irish crew has ever achieved such a feat.
Meanwhile, Muckross Rowing Club’s Se·n Casey also enjoyed another great year and in the World Championship, the Irish men’s heavyweight four won the B final, finishing seventh in Eton overall.
In the B final, the Irish quartet claimed a thrilling win over Canada and World Cup silver medalists this season, New Zealand.
The result demonstrates the tremendous improvement the four have made since 2005’s World Championships when they finished tenth, in what was only their first season on the senior international stage.
Crucially, that result keeps the target of Olympic qualification at 2007’s World Championships very much on track as the top 11 boats at the event qualify for Beijing
2008.
