Today has been the busiest day yet for Ireland, with 11 crews racing. There are now five crews into the A Finals, where they will race for the medals over the next few days. In addition, there are three crews headed to the B Finals, three crews to the C Finals and one in the D Final. Sanita and Zoe hit the water tomorrow for the A/B Semi of the Women’s Double, so hopefully Ireland will have another crew in the mix for the medals after that.
The Para Mixed Double of Katie O’Brien and Steven McGowen were first up to qualify for their A Final this morning. The Uzbekistan Double of Feruza Buriboeva and Otabek Kuchkorov completed the first 500m at lightning pace, with a split of 2:01.79. As they broke away from the crews, it was Katie and Steven who reeled them in through the 1000m mark and left the remaining crews behind. The Galway duo secured their place in the A Final finishing just 4 seconds behind Uzbekistan.
Lydia Heaphy in the Lightweight Women’s Scull, and the Women’s Pair of Tara Hanlon and Natalie Long progressed into the B Finals of their respective events. Lydia finished sixth in her Semi, a result that does not fully capture the talent that this Skibbereen sculler has. Tara and Natalie, who were part of the Women’s Fours that won Bronze at World Cup II and Silver at Europeans, placed fifth in their Semi putting them through to the B Final on Saturday. The top three crews, Romania, the Netherlands and Croatia progressed to the A Final.
Both the Men’s and Women’s Lightweight Doubles are into the A Finals on Saturday, after impressive performances in their Semis. Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey sat in third place behind Great Britain and Greece through the halfway point, but it was during the third quarter of the race that their strength really stood to them, as the Greek double began to fade away and they continued to gain speed. In the end they finished just 3.48 seconds behind Imogen Grant and Emily Craig of GB.
The Swiss Lightweight Men’s Double put up a fight against Paul and Fintan, leading the crew from Ireland to the 1000m and then putting in a big push through the second half of the race, but there was no stopping the boys from West Cork. Continuing to pull away from the Swiss, Ireland finished in first place in a time of 6:24.41. With another win under their belt, they head into the A Final on Saturday afternoon.
The Women’s Four of Emily Hegarty, Fiona Murtagh, Eimear Lambe and Aifric Keogh did not disappoint. The crew from Ireland finished second in their Semi putting them through to the A Final, and are the second fastest boat going into it. They held second place from start to finish, holding off the Chinese crew who put down a strong start, and gained a second on the GB crew in the final 500m.
John Kearney, Ross Corrigan, Nathan Timoney and Jack Dorney missed out on the Men’s Four A Final by half a length. In a gutsy race, the crew from Ireland went out hard, not allowing the leading crews to move further than their bow. Holding third position through the majority of the race, it was the Swiss Four’s last push in the final 500m that just bumped them out of the qualifying position.
Later in the afternoon, four crews from Ireland raced the C/D Semi Finals. Both Alison Bergin in the Women’s Scull, and Phil Doyle and Konan Pazzaia in the Men’s Double won their Semi’s and go into the C Finals on Sunday. In the Men’s Scull, Brian Colsh came second by a bow ball to the Chinese sculler who had an incredible final 500m sprint, bringing him from sixth to first. Brian goes into the C Final with the third fastest time.
Hugh Moore was unfortunate in his C/D Semi finishing in fourth position just 0.24 of a second behind third place. Hugh’s time of 7:26.52 was the fourth fastest from the C/D Semis, but his fourth place finish means he will have to race the D Final tomorrow morning.
The first day of finals starts tomorrow and all races will be live streamed on the World Rowing Website HERE
Ireland Results
- PR2 Mix2x Repechage 2nd -> A Final
- LW1x A/B Semi 6th -> B Final
- W2- A/B Semi 5th -> B Final
- LW2x A/B Semi 2nd -> A Final
- LM2x A/B Semi 1st -> A Final
- W4- A/B Semi 2nd -> A Final
- M4- A/B Semi 4th -> B Final
- LM1x C/D Semi 4th -> D Final
- M1x C/D Semi 2nd -> C Final
- W1x C/D Semi 1st -> C Final
- M2x C/D Semi 1st -> C Final
Friday Schedule (IST)
- 9:15am – LM1x D Final
- 9:41am – LW1x B Final
- 11:16am – W2x A/B Semi
- 12:18am – PR2 W1x A Final