Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan won Ireland its first-ever Olympic Gold medal in rowing. This is Ireland’s second medal at this Olympics, with the first also coming from rowing with the Women’s Four Bronze medal yesterday morning. Four Irish crews were competing this morning, in two B Finals, one A/B Semi-Final and an A Final.

The Women’s Pair of Aileen Crowley & Monika Dukarska finished fifth in the B Final this morning. The Irish Pair competed against Megan Kalmoe & Tracy Eisser (USA),  Adriana Ailincai & Iuliana Buhus (Romania), Jessica Morrison & Annabelle Mcintyre (Australia), Hedvig Rasmussen & Fie Udby Erichsen (Denmark) and Kiri Tontodonati & Aisha Rocek (Italy) . Aileen and Monika finished with a time of 07:02.22 and finished eleventh overall

Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey finished fifth in the Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls B Final. Margaret and Aoife competed against Patricia Merz & Frederique Rol (Switzerland), Jill Moffatt & Jennifer Casson (Canada), Chiaki Tomita & Ayami Oishi (Japan), Anastasia Lebedeva & Maria Botalova (ROC), Ina Nikulina & Alena Furman (Belarus). Margaret and Aoife finished with a time of 06:49.90 and finished eighth overall

Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan won Gold for Ireland in the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls A Final. Fintan and Paul raced against, Jiri Simanek & Miroslav Vrastil (Czech Republic), Niels Van Zandweghe & Tim Brys (Belgium), Stefano Oppo & Pietro Ruta (Italy), Jonathan Rommelmann & Jason Osborne (Germany), and Bruno Cetraro Berriolo & Felipe Kluver Ferreira (Uruguay).  Fintan and Paul finished with a time of 06:06.43 to secure their Gold Medal.

Sanita Puspure finished fifth in the Women’s Single Sculls A/B Semi-Final. Sanita faced tough competition from Yan Jiang (China), Anna Sarah Sophie Souwer (Netherlands), Hanna Prakatsen (ROC), Jeanine Gmelin (Switzerland) and Anneta Kyridou (Greece). Sanita finished with a time of 07:34.40. She will now race in the B Final tomorrow morning.

Irish Results

A FINAL 

Lightweight Men’s Double – Fintan McCarthy & Paul O’Donovan – 1st – GOLD MEDAL – 06:06.43

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

A/B Semi-Final

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Sanita Puspure – 5th – 07:34.40.

B Final

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) – Ronan Byrne & Philip Doyle – 4th – 06:16.89 – 10th Overall

Women’s Pair (W2-)  Monika Dukarska & Aileen Crowley – 5th – 07:02.22 – 11th Overall

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x) – Margaret Cremen & Aoife Casey – 2nd – 06:49.90

Next Irish Races

Friday 30th (IST)

B Final

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) – Sanita Puspure – 01:05

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