Denis Rice competed in the men’s coxed pair at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games alongside Christy O’Brien and cox Liam Williams, as part of a crew that had been one of the most high-profile Irish medal contenders – recording two second-place finishes ahead of World Championship silver and bronze medallists at the boycott-free Lucerne regatta.

Moscow was a heartbreaking experience. The crew was the most prominent victim of the debilitating illness that swept through the Irish team, with Christy O’Brien falling ill before the opening heat in which the crew finished over 23 seconds behind Romania.

Rice then contracted a more severe bout of illness before the repechage, in which they struggled home in fourth place. On the medical advice of Dr Moira O’Brien, they were withdrawn from the little final. Denis Rice was seriously ill when he returned from Moscow and was hospitalised for several weeks.