Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy to go against each other in semi-final shootout at World Cup regatta
Lightweight rowing has been removed as an Olympic discipline, and both men have opted to compete in openweight competition. McCarthy and Konan Pazzaia took a bronze on their first outing at the European Championships last month. O'Donovan, making his season debut, teamed up with Daire Lynch, a bronze medallist at Paris 2024.
Both crews secured semi-final places but finished second in their heats. McCarthy and Pazzaia threw everything at it in a closing sprint but found New Zealand too strong. O'Donovan and Lynch came within a quarter of a second of the win, which went to Independent Neutral Athletes (AIN). This is a moniker for Russian or Belarussian rowers competing under a neutral flag.
Lynch, whose Olympic medal came in a double with Philip Doyle, was not happy. 'Tough enough going. Hopefully we'll get better,' he told Worldrowing.com.
A top-three finish and an A Final place for both Ireland boats is a tall order: the race features Olympic champions Romania, along with New Zealand, Britain and Greece.
Fiona Murtagh's semi-final follows soon after (10.30). Her transition to single sculling from sweep boats (she took bronze in the four at Tokyo 2020) has been outstanding. She took silver at the Europeans and won her heat in Lucerne. 'Looking forward to tomorrow and stepping on again,' she said.
Zoe Hyde and Mags Cremen also made it through to the openweight doubles semi-final (9.55). Third in their heat, their time was one of the best which did gain guaranteed qualification.
Pararowers Tiarnán O'Donnell and Sadhbh Ní Laoghaire, competing in PR3 to allow Ní Laoghaire to be classified, have a final at 11.55, while Ireland's first finalist in the hunt for a medal will be lightweight sculler Siobhán McCrohan (12.07). The 37-year-old, making her debut this year as she recovered from injury, won her heat and finished third in her semi-final.
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