Ireland rower Philip Doyle, a World Championship silver medallist who is set to compete at the next Olympic Games, will switch roles and join the battle against Covid-19 in coming days.
The Belfast man is a qualified doctor who put this on hold to concentrate on his international rowing career. Now that the Olympic Games have been switched to next year, he will return to medicine. He will start work in Daisy Hill hospital in Newry next Wednesday.
Meanwhile the Trinity Regatta became the latest rowing event to fall to the virus. The fixture was scheduled to take place on May 9th, but the committee chose to cancel to protect the safety of volunteers and prospective competitors.
Rowing in Ireland is effectively suspended, with the National Rowing Centre closed.
Before the recent set of cancellations, the bad weather had already wiped out all the on-the-water events so far in Ireland this year.
Fisa, the world governing body has also abandoned all events in April and May. In a statement, they said that “the deadline for critical decisions on international events is two months to go”.
