Mags Cremen and Zoe Hyde are World Champions.
What a race.
In one of the most exciting races ever produced by an Irish crew, Mags and Zoe produced an outstanding performance to take gold in the women’s double sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, narrowly getting the better of the fancied Dutch crew on their home water.
The Dutch took the early advantage, but the Irish stayed composed and kept themselves in the race. When it mattered, they found another gear and came through the final stages with huge determination to take the World Championship title.
This is a crew that has shown real consistency throughout the season, with a bronze medal at World Cup 1 in Seville and a fourth-place finish at World Cup 3 in Lucerne, but today they produced something special. They raced with belief, composure and a real willingness to take the race on.
To beat a highly fancied Dutch crew in front of their home crowd makes the achievement even more impressive.
For Mags and Zoe, this is a World Championship gold medal. For the Rowing Ireland High Performance programme, it is also another important piece of evidence that we have crews capable of racing and beating the very best in the world.
Cremen and Hyde weren’t the only Irish in fine form today.
Murtagh and McCarthy Safely Through as Storm Interrupts Racing in Amsterdam
Rowing Ireland’s World Championship campaign continued positively in Amsterdam today, with Fiona Murtagh and Fintan McCarthy both securing places in the semi-finals of the single sculls, while Imogen Magner and Natalie Long completed their Championships in the Women’s Pair.
Murtagh Takes Another Step in World Title Defence
Defending World Champion Fiona Murtagh produced an assured performance to win her Women’s Single Sculls quarter-final in 7:20.80.
Murtagh finished 0.91 seconds ahead of Switzerland in 7:21.71, with Australia more than six seconds further back in third.
It was exactly the sort of performance championship racing requires in the earlier rounds. There was no need for unnecessary drama; Murtagh established herself at the front, secured progression and moved another step closer to the races that will ultimately decide the medals.
The difficulty increases considerably from here. Murtagh is attempting to defend her world title in an outstanding field that includes Great Britain’s Lauren Henry and Olympic champion Karolien Florijn. For now, though, another stage has been comfortably completed.
McCarthy’s Open-Weight Journey Continues
Fintan McCarthy also secured his place in the Men’s Single Sculls semi-finals, finishing third in his quarter-final in 6:51.28.
Germany took the win in 6:46.48 ahead of Switzerland in 6:48.20, but McCarthy had a comfortable margin over Slovenia in fourth, finishing 5.68 seconds clear of the final non-qualifying position.
For the double Olympic lightweight champion, Amsterdam continues to provide an intriguing examination of his move into open-weight single sculling.
McCarthy has spent much of his international career knowing precisely what excellence looks and feels like. This season has asked him to do something different: take all of that experience into a new event and become a student again.
A World Championship semi-final in his first season taking on the open-weight field represents another encouraging step.
Magner and Long Finish Their Championships
Imogen Magner and Natalie Long brought their World Championships to a close with fifth place in the Women’s Pair B Final in 7:14.03, securing 11th place overall.
Germany won the race in 7:02.87, with Australia second and New Zealand third. Lithuania took fourth ahead of Ireland, with Croatia sixth.
The Irish pair had missed out on the A Final after finishing fifth in yesterday’s semi-final.
Rowing Ireland Racing Schedule – Saturday 29 August 2026
| Event | Athlete(s) | Race Time (IST) |
| Womens Four B Final | Claire Feerick Aisling Hayes Emma Waters Emma Fagan | 09:45am |
| Womens Quad B Final | Izzy Clements Sophia Young Alison Bergin Emily Hegarty | 09:55am |
| W1x SF | Fiona Murtagh (University of Galway BC) | 14:12pm |
| M1x SF | Fintan McCarthy (Skibbereen RC) | 14:19pm |
| Mixed x Heats | Mags Cremen Konan Pazzaia | 15:05pm |
Photo Credit: Conor Lyall.
