Rowing was the first sport to win a medal for Ireland at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Women’s Four of Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty won Bronze in the Women’s Four A Final in the early hours of Wednesday morning. 

Aifirc Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty won an Olympic Bronze Medal in the Women’s Four A Final. They are the first open weight Irish crew and female athletes to win a medal for Ireland in Rowing at an Olympic games. Aifirc, Eimear, Fiona and Emily were racing against crews from Great Britain, Australia, Netherlands, China and Poland. The Irish boat finished with a time of 06:20.46 to secure their Bronze medal.

Ronan Byrne and Philip Doyle competed in the Men’s Double Sculls B Final. The Irish Men’s Double finished fourth after a photo finish with the Romania Double. Ronan and Phil competed against, Jack Lopas & Christopher Harris (New Zealand), Ilya Kondratyev & Andrey Potapkin (ROC), Ioan Prundeanu & Marian Enache (Romania), Saulius Ritter & Aurimas Adomavicius (Lithuania) and Stephan Krueger & Marc Weber (Germany). Ronan and Phil finished with a time of 06:16.89 and finished tenth overall

Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan finished first in the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls A/B Semi-Final. Fintan and Paul raced against, Caetano Horta Pombo & Manel Balastegui (Spain), Niels Van Zandweghe & Tim Brys (Belgium), Stefano Oppo & Pietro Ruta (Italy), Igor Khmara &  Stanislav Kovalov (Ukraine), and Arjun Lal Jat & Arvind Singh (India). Fintan and Paul finished with a World’s Best time of 06:05.33 and will now race in the A Final tomorrow morning.

Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey finished fifth in the Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls A/B Semi-Final. Margaret and Aoife competed against Patricia Merz & Frederique Rol (Switzerland), Laura Tarantola & Claire Bove (France), Marieke Keijser & Ilse Paulis (Netherlands), Emily Craig & Imogen Grant (Great Britain), Ina Nikulina & Alena Furman (Belarus). Margaret and Aoife finished with a time of 06:49.24 Margaret and Aoife will race in the B Final tomorrow morning

The Women’s Pair of Aileen Crowley & Monika Dukarska finished fifth in the A/B Semi-Final this morning. Aileen and Monika competed against Helen Glover & Polly Swan (Great Britain), Caileigh Filmer & Hillary Janssens (Canada), Jessica Morrison & Annabelle Mcintyre (Australia), Hedvig Rasmussen & Fie Udby Erichsen (Denmark) and Maria Kyridou & Christina Ioanna Bourmpou (Greece). Aileen and Monika finished with a time of 07:06.07. Aileen and Monika will race in the B Final tomorrow morning

Irish Results

A FINAL 

Women’s Four (W4-) – Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Emily Hegarty & Fiona Murtagh – 3RD – BRONZE MEDAL – 06:20.46

A/B Semi-Final

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Fintan McCarthy & Paul O’Donovan – 1st – 06:05.33

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Margaret Cremen & Aoife Casey – 5th – 06:49.24

Women’s Pair (W2-)  Monika Dukarska & Aileen Crowley – 5th – 07:06.07

B Final

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Ronan Byrne & Philip Doyle – 4th – 06:16.89

Upcoming Irish Races

Thursday 29th (IST)

B Final 

Women’s Pair (W2-)  Monika Dukarska & Aileen Crowley – 00:40

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Margaret Cremen & Aoife Casey – 01:00

A Final

Lightweight Men;s Double Sculls (LM2x) – Fintan McCarthy & Paul O’Donovan – 01:50

A/B Semi-Final

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Sanita Puspure – 02:30

Olympic Coverage

Full coverage of the Olympic Games will be available live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 1:30am each night. Rowing highlights will also feature on RTÉ2 at 9am and 7pm. 

Extensive results will be covered on Rowing Ireland’s website and social channels throughout the week.

Official Selection for Tokyo

Lightweight Men’s Double Scull (LM2x)

  • Fintan McCarthy (Skibbereen Rowing Club)
  • Paul O’Donovan (UCC Rowing Club)
  • Gary O’Donovan (Skibbereen Rowing Club) – Reserve

Women’s Single (W1x)

  • Sanita Pušpure (Old Collegians Boat Club)

Men’s Double Scull (M2x)

  • Ronan Byrne (UCC Rowing Club)
  • Philip Doyle (Belfast Boat Club)
  • Daire Lynch (Clonmel Rowing Club) – Reserve

Women’s Four (W4-)

  • Emily Hegarty (UCC Rowing Club)
  • Fiona Murtagh (National University of Ireland Boat Club)
  • Eimear Lambe (Old Collegians Boat Club)
  • Aifric Keogh (UCC Rowing Club)
  • Tara Hanlon (UCC Rowing Club) – Reserve

Women’s Pair (W2-)

  • Monika Dukarska (Killorglin Rowing Club)
  • Aileen Crowley (Old Collegians Boat Club)

Lightweight Women’s Double Scull (LW2x)

  • Aoife Casey (UCC Rowing Club)
  • Margaret Cremen (UCC Rowing Club)
  • Lydia Heaphy (UCC Rowing Club) – Reserve

Staff Team

  • Antonio Maurogiovanni – High-Performance Director
  • Fran Keane (Athlone Boat Club/Pres Rowing Club) – Coach
  • Dominic Casey (Skibbereen Rowing Club) – Coach
  • Giuseppe DeVita (UCD Boat Club)- Coach
  • Ciro Prisco (NUIG Boat Club)- Coach
  • Sinead Murphy – Physiotherapist
  • Feargal O’Callaghan (Shannon Rowing Club)- Team Manager

For any further information or media queries please contact: communications@rowingireland.ie