The Rowing Ireland team finished their racing at the European Beach Sprint Championships in La Línea de la Concepción, Spain, with three Irish entries making it through to the Last 16 knockouts.

After two Time Trials on Wednesday, Shane O’Flaherty, Kate Dunne and the Junior Mixed Double of Conor Kelly and Isabella Monahan all progressed to the knockout stages.

Last 16 Knockouts

Shane O’Flaherty raced Austria’s Nikolas Roidmayer in the Junior Men’s Single. Shane finished his race in 3:05.83, with Roidmayer recording 2:48.93.

Kate Dunne faced Spain’s Marina Lopez Sempere in the Junior Women’s Single. Kate finished in 3:19.34, with Lopez Sempere recording 3:16.57. Lopez Sempere went on to take the Silver medal.

The Junior Mixed Double of Conor Kelly and Isabella Monahan raced Austria’s Alexander Rittenbacher and Esther Schoeberl. The Irish crew finished in 2:59.75, with the Austrian crew recording 2:50.92. The Austrian crew of Rittenbacher and Schoeberl went on to take the Silver medal.

All three Irish entries finished their European Championships in the Last 16, having gained valuable experience competing against some of the best young Beach Sprint athletes in Europe.

Earlier in the day, Patrick Boomer finished 10th in the Men’s Single Time Trial 2 in 2:52.04, with Miriam Sheehan also finishing 10th in the Women’s Single in 3:12.37. Thomas Sheridan and Monika Dukarska finished 14th in the Mixed Double in 2:41.72. With only the top eight progressing from Time Trial 2, all three narrowly missed out on a place in the Last 16, but gained valuable experience racing at European level.

The championships provided another important opportunity for the Irish athletes to gain international experience in Beach Sprints, with the team made up of a mix of established international athletes and some of Ireland’s emerging young talent.

For the junior athletes in particular, the experience of racing at a European Championships will be an important part of their continued development in the discipline.

A big thank you to Team Manager Orlaith Martin, coaches and boat handlers Noel Monahan, Shay Dunne, Marguerite Deasy, Andrew Fitzgerald, Sinead Murphy and photographer Brian O’Flatherty for their work with the team throughout the championships.

Well done to all our athletes & support staff for representing Ireland in Spain.💚