Ireland brought the 2026 World Rowing Championships to a close with two silver medals on the final day at the Bosbaan in Amsterdam, as Fiona Murtagh claimed silver in the Women’s Single Sculls before Mags Cremen and Konan Pazzaia added another silver in the Mixed Double Sculls.
It was a fitting end to a Championships that has seen Ireland test new combinations, measure itself against the best crews in the world and finish with significant results across a number of events.
Murtagh Adds World Silver to Her 2025 Title
Reigning World Champion Fiona Murtagh produced another outstanding performance in the Women’s Single Sculls final, finishing second in 7:18.04.
Great Britain’s Lauren Henry took the world title in 7:15.93, with Olympic champion Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands third in 7:18.84.
Murtagh therefore finishes just 2.11 seconds from gold and 0.80 seconds ahead of Florijn, adding World Championship silver to the title she won in Shanghai last year.
There can sometimes be a temptation to look at silver only through the gold medal that got away. That would miss much of what this performance represents.
Murtagh returned to a deep and unforgiving event as defending World Champion, negotiated every stage of the competition and put herself back on the podium against some of the finest scullers in the world.
World Champion in 2025 and World silver medallist in 2026 is a level of consistency that speaks for itself.
Cremen and Pazzaia Take Mixed Double Silver
Ireland’s final day had begun with Mags Cremen and Konan Pazzaia comfortably securing their place in the Mixed Double A Final.
The Irish combination finished third in their semi-final in 6:24.63, remaining in close contact with the USA and Switzerland while opening a clear gap to the non-qualifying crews.
They returned later in the programme and delivered another excellent performance to claim World Championship silver.
For Cremen, the medal completes an extraordinary Championships. Having already won the Women’s Double world title alongside Zoe Hyde, she leaves Amsterdam with gold and silver medals from two different boats.
For Pazzaia, the result provides another significant international marker and a World Championship podium at the end of a demanding week.
McCarthy Completes First Open-Weight World Championships
Earlier, Fintan McCarthy raced the B Final of the Men’s Single Sculls after narrowly missing out on a place in yesterday’s A Final.
There was always going to be a challenge in resetting after coming so close to the medal race, but the two-time Olympic champion returned to the start line and raced bravely in another strong international field.
McCarthy was pushing towards the leading places through the final 500 metres before fast-finishing crews from Romania and Greece moved through in the closing stages.
The result brings to an end his first World Championships as an open-weight single sculler.
For an athlete whose greatest successes have come in lightweight rowing, this season has required him to take on a very different physical challenge and discover where he sits among the world’s leading open-weight scullers.
Amsterdam has provided plenty of information.
McCarthy progressed through the early rounds, reached a World Championship semi-final and came within one place of the A Final. As preparations build towards Olympic qualification next season, there is a substantial foundation there to work from.
A Strong Final Day for Ireland
Two World Championship silver medals provided an appropriate conclusion to Ireland’s week in Amsterdam.
Murtagh confirmed once again that she belongs among the very best single scullers in the world. Cremen completed a remarkable Championships with a second medal, while Pazzaia earned a place on the World Championship podium and McCarthy continued to establish himself in the open-weight single.
There will be time now to look properly at what these Championships tell us about the programme as a whole.
For the final day, though, the picture was simple enough.
Two races. Two World Championship silver medals. Another strong day for Ireland on the Bosbaan.
Photo Credit: Conor Lyall.
