Conditions are good and the temperature is hot over in Belgrade for day one of the World Rowing Championships.
Skibbereen rower Jake McCarthy is into the repechage of the men’s lightweight scull after a fifth place finish in his heat. Right up until the final 200 meters McCarthy and the sculler from Belgium were sitting just bowballs apart, fighting for that fourth place position for a ticket straight into the quarterfinals. Coming to the line it was Marlon Colpaert of Belgium that was able to hold on to the momentum and take that final spot. Jake races again tomorrow afternoon for a place in the quarterfinals.
Siobhán McCrohan (Tribesmen RC) has cruised into the A/B Semi’s of the lightweight women’s scull with a second place finish in her heat. The race was reduced to a four boat race due to the Individual Neutral Athlete Anastasiia Liubich failing to make weight prior to racing. With two boats to progress through to the A/B Semi finals Siobhán made her mark early on in the race, opening up the initial lead. Going with her was the Romanian sculler and after the two created a significant gap to the remaining boats they settled into the race. Siobhán is up next on Thursday morning for the A/B Semi.
Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy are back in the winning spirit with a solid performance in the heat of the lightweight men’s double. Taking the lead from the start of the race, there was no catching the 2022 World Champions. New Zealand had a good race moving from fourth to second, but with each 500m the Irish double continued to increase their lead. They race again on Wednesday for the quarterfinals.
An impressive race from the Enniskillen duo of Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan sends them straight through to the men’s pair quarterfinals. Hitting a low of 40 strokes per minute in the first 500m Ireland went out hard, placing themselves in the top two with 2022 World Silver Medallists Spain. Through the middle of the race Timoney and Corrigan challenged Spain, moving in to the lead of the race. It was only in the last sprint that Spain picked up their boat speed and came through Ireland beating them by just 1.19 seconds.
Philip Doyle (Portora BC) and Daire Lynch (Clonmel RC) are into the men’s doubles quarterfinals with a second place finish in their heat. It was the American double that led from the start but there was only just over a second separating the top four crews to the first marker. Doyle and Lynch sat in third position until they made their move on the French double coming into the final 400 meters. The French crew, including reigning champion Hugo Boucheron, could not catch Ireland on the line.
Follow the Racing
All races will be live streamed on the World Rowing website HERE. Follow the Rowing Ireland social media for live updates on results.
Day 1 Results
- LM1x Heat 5th -> Repechage
- LW1x Heat 2nd -> A/B Semi
- LM2x Heat 1st -> Quarterfinal
- M2- Heat 2nd -> Quarterfinal
- M2x Heat 2nd -> Quarterfinal
Monday Schedule (IST)
- 9:28am – W2- Heat
- 9:49am – LW2x Heat
- 10:25am – W2x Heat
- 11:21am – W4- Heat
- 11:35am – M4- Heat
- 12:24pm – M4x Heat
- 15:47pm – LM1x Repechage