The men's and woman's lightweight double-sculls event will begin on Sunday, marking the beginning of a new era. Weight classes are scheduled to disappear from Olympic rowing after the Paris Games.

The discipline was introduced in 1996 and has been threatened for years by the IOC's desire to limit weight divisions only to combat sports and weightlifting. It will be finally put to rest after the finals, which take place on August 2.

Thomas Bach said that weight categories would only be used in sports where there is a high risk of injury, such as boxing. "He said that you don't get short basketball players and we are losing lightweight rowing", Michelle Carpenter, CEO at Rowing Ireland told.

The Irish are particularly hurt by the removal of lightweight crewing. Their men's rowing team was close to winning a medal in 1996, before going on to win silver in Rio and then gold in Tokyo in 2016 - the only 11 Olympic titles the country has ever won.

Carpenter says that while some combat athletes struggle to reach their weight limit, rowers often have the opposite problem.

"Rowers will need to consume between 6 and 8 thousand calories per day." She explained that eating can be difficult because our athletes train between 15-17 times per week.

Carpenter believes that the lightweight classes are being replaced by coastal sculling for the Los Angeles Games of 2028. Carpenter views the change as an opportunity to shift priorities.

We've focused heavily on an open-weight programme because we know that we need to be flexible and spend money according to changes.

"Ofcourse we are disappointed, but isn't that just life? "You just have to adjust and move on," said she.

"We're excited to bring coastal rowing to Los Angeles. We've integrated with coastal rowing in 2018 and have a large membership."

The stern of the boat is leveled off to allow water flow out. (Reporting and editing by Ken Ferris; Philip O'Connor)