The Olympic Rowing Regatta takes place in the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo and begins early Friday morning Irish time. Rowing Ireland has two crews competing, in the W1x and in the M2x heats.
Sanita Pušpure will compete in the Women’s single sculls heat 2, facing rowers from Uganda, Greece, Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, and Mexico. She will race at 1.40am (IST). Placing 1-3 in this heat will secure her place in the Quarter Finals on Monday.
Born in Latvia, Sanita has been competing for Ireland since 2010, and qualified for the 2012 Olympics in London, the first Irish female rower to qualify since 1980. Sanita competed again at the Olympics in Rio 2016. Tokyo will be her third Olympics.
Representing Old Collegians Boat Club, Sanita has a myriad of medals behind her. Most recently, Sanita won bronze in Lucerne earlier this year at the World Rowing Cup II, and picked up gold at the European Rowing Championships, held in Poznan in 2020.
In the Men’s double scull, Ronan Byrne and Philip Doyle will be competing, facing rowers from Switzerland, New Zealand, and Poland. Their race takes place at 2:40am (IST). A 1-3 place in this race will gain the double a place in the A/B Semi-final on Monday.
Ronan hailing from Cork, and Philip from Belfast, won silver together at the 2021 Lucerne World Rowing Cup II, and another silver at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Lintz, which secured their place in Tokyo.
Ronan has been competing for ten years, hailing originally from Shandon Rowing Club, and is currently rowing with UCC.Ronan was named World Rowing’s Rising Star in 2019.
Philip began his rowing career in 2014 while studying Medicine at Queen’s University. Despite beginning his rowing career late, he has accumulated a number of medals, and is poised for an impressive performance this week in Tokyo.
Confirmed race times
Friday 23rd
- 01:40 W1x Sanita
- 02:40 M2x Ronan & Phil
Saturday 24th
- 02:10 W2- Monika & Aileen
- 02:50 LW2x Aoife & Margaret
- 03:30 LM2x Fintan & Paul
- 04:00 W4- Aifric, Eimear, Emily & Fiona
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