Kirby and Rafferty secure historic gold medal at U19 World Rowing Championships
The junior men's double took gold in today's A final in challenging conditions with a strong headwind.
At the 500-metre mark, the Irish duo began to push away from the field and had clear water by 900 metres.
Their lead continued to grow throughout the race, and they crossed the line with two lengths of clear water in a time of 6 minutes, 39.57 seconds.
Junior women's double Sophia Young and Aoife Hendy finished fifth in their A final.
Sitting in sixth for much of the race, they surged past Poland and battled with Hungary for fourth but narrowly missed out, crossing the line in 7:55.30.
Junior men's quadruple scull Evan O'Byrne, Mattias Cogan, Bill Murphy and Harry McCarthy won the B final.
Sitting in second after the first 500 metres, the crew moved into the lead in the second quarter and held their position despite late sprint finishes from Belgium and France, crossing the line in 6:20.48.
Junior women's four Anna O'Grady, Cloda Phillips, Isabella Wright and Sarah Rockett placed second in this morning's B Final.
The crew led through the halfway mark, but a strong push from Croatia saw them cross the line in second place in 7:24.55.
Ireland's junior men's four Daniel Crozier, Tommy Little, Richard Heaslip and Paul Schofield finished fourth in the B Final.
At the 1000-metre mark, the crew sat in fifth, but they overtook Serbia to cross the line in fourth place, clocking 6:41.04.
It was a landmark regatta for Rowing Ireland, with every crew finishing inside the world's top ten.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
8 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Irish dreams of a semi-final in tatters as French players are left in tears after first EuroHockey win in 22 years
French players were left in tears after their first EuroHockey win in 22 years as Ireland wasted 13 penalty corner chances, twice hit the post and lost their seven-game unbeaten record to Les Bleus. Mathilde Duffrene's second-half penalty corner proved the difference, while goalkeeper Lucie Ehrmann produced a superb display to thwart Ireland's below-par attackers. As it stands, defeat left hopes of progression resting on their final pool game against hosts Germany and a healthy goal difference win. It's an outside chance at best. 'We are gutted,' said Katie Mullan. 'We had a lot of opportunities, the French goalkeeper was phenomenal, but we should take a hard look at ourselves in attack as we expect more from ourselves and we are able to produce more quality in the final third.' An unmarked Mullan hit the post and then blazed over in the first quarter to set the tone for Ireland's host of squandered chances. They then wasted five penalty corner chances in a row. The post was rattled either side of post runner Emma van der Zanden charging down the castle hits. Lizzy Murphy made a sprawling second-half body save from Van Der Zanden. It paved the way for upfield Irish circle penetration but increasing desperation to find the net as more corner set-pieces went begging. With 11 minutes left, Ireland went down to 10 after a green card for Michelle Carey. And France made it count through Duffrene's rising penalty corner flick. Mullan's late yellow card for physical intent summed up their afternoon. Coach Gareth Grundie said: 'We were impatient with the ball, but we had enough opportunities to win it comfortably. We will have to take that one on the chin.'
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Irish sailing trio make good starts at Europeans
Updated / Monday, 11 Aug 2025 19:06 The McMahon siblings, Eve and Ewan, both made strong starts to their ILCA European Championships prospects in Sweden on Monday, though it wasn't plain sailing for either at the start of the six-day regatta. Eve was one of nine boats penalised for early starting in the tricky current and strong winds and received maximum points for the disqualification. However, the Howth sailor bounced back in race two by leading her division most of the way before the wind died and she took second place for that race. Older brother Ewan had a better day and is third European out of 153 boats thanks to a second and a sixth. Carlow's Finn Lynch also opened well with a third and an 11th and needs to maintain this form to secure a strong overall Gold fleet place ahead of the final series that starts on Thursday. All three Irish sailors are now counted in the top 10 in the world as they begin to focus on the 2028 LA Games. The Irish sailing squad has just returned from a three-week training camp at the Los Angeles Olympic venue.
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
How an Irish Olympian's defiant act in Athens marked the world's first sports protest
Record-breaker Peter O'Connor, dubbed the 'Irish Antelope', courageously flew flag for his country On August 5, 1901, as spectators flocked to the annual Royal Irish Constabulary Sports meeting in Ballsbridge, little did they envisage that they would witness a new Irish and world record being set at the south Dublin venue later that afternoon. The remarkable feat was achieved by 28-year-old Peter O'Connor when the Wicklow man etched his name into the annals of sporting history by breaking the world long- jump record with a remarkable leap of 24 feet, 11-and three-quarter inches (7.61 metres).
