World Rowing Beach Sprints
– Barletta, Puglia, Italy
Racing was disrupted this weekend at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals as the course was hit with difficult weather conditions on Sunday which pushed the remainder of the racing program to the reserve day.
Monday:
While conditions were still challenging, the 2023 world rowing beach sprints finals concluded on Monday with team Ireland represented by Monika Dukarska in the CW1x Women’s solo final. Dukarsaka put in a phenomenal effort against Christine Cavalloof, USA but was unlucky to just miss out on a bronze medal in the event.
Kate Verling and Luke Nunan had a fantastic quarter final race in the u19 CJMix2x mixed double but also just missed out in a semi-final spot.
Earlier this weekend:
Friday saw fantastic performances by the Mens and women’s U19 solo crews:
Eoin O’Connell in the CJMX1 Won his 2nd time-trial but unfortunately was eliminated in the last 16 knockout by France today after a great race.
Aoibhe Horan won her CJWX1 2nd time-trial but was also eliminated in the last 16 knockout by Sweden after another fantastic race.
Saturday:
The second day of racing, crews faced knockout races where boats went head-to-head with only the winners progressing in the competition.
First up, was the repechage CJW2x Women’s u19 double of Meabh McNamara and Grace Masterson from Donegal Bay Rowing Club. The pair had a fantastic performance, going toe-to-toe with a strong German crew but although they fought hard, they fell just short of advancing to the next round.
The CMix4x mixed coxed quad of Rhiannon O’Donoghue, Monika Dukarska, Kealan Mannix, Ronan Byrne and David Hussey went up against a strong New Zealand crew in a battle to get into the semi-finals but in a closely contested race, the crew narrowly missed out on advancing to the next stage of the competition.
Noel Creedon and Karen McCarthy of Ring RC also had a strong performance in the CMix2x Mixed Double, but it was New Zealand that was again successful in advancing to the quarter finals.
In his second race, Kealan Mannix unfortunately received a time penalty which placed him 20th in the CM1x Solo Men’s time trial 2.
Sunday
The St. Michaels CJM2x Men’s double with Colm Murphy and Eoin Balfe battled difficult conditions on Sunday, the pair made it to the quarter final in a challenging race against GB.
Congratulations to all athletes and team manager Pat Churchyard.
