Rowing Ireland had nine crews competing at the World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne today. Six of the crews qualified directly to the A/B Semi-Final and three will compete in the Repechage on Saturday morning.

There were two Irish boats competing in the first heat in the Women’s Pair. Aileen Crowley and Monika Dukarska finished second behind the Spanish boat. Tara Hanlon and Claire Feerick finished fourth with less than half a second behind the Czech Boat. Aileen and Monika finished with a time of 07:30.12 and Tara and Claire finished with a time of 07:41.36. As only the first-place crew went directly to the A Final, both Irish boats will compete in the Repechage on Saturday. 

The Men’s Double of Ronan Byrne and Philip Doyle finished first in their Heat. Ronan and Phil led from the start and beat the crews from France, Great Britain and Lithuania. They finished with a time of 06:16.31 and progressed to the A/B Semi-Final on Saturday. 

Lydia Heaphy finished first in the Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls Heat. Lydia was competing against two Italian crews and a boat from Bulgaria. Lydia raced alongside the Italian Boats from the start and took the lead after the thousand meter mark. Lydia finished with a time of 07:54.09 and will now race in the A/B Semi-Final on Saturday.

Gary O’Donovan won the Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls Heat. Gary beat crews from Germany, Algeria, Chile and Japan. He took the lead halfway through the race and maintained the strong lead until the finish. Gary finished with a time of 07:10.15 and will race in the A/B Semi-Final on Saturday.

The Men’s Four finished third in their Heat. Jack, Alex, John and Ross were racing against crews from Great Britain, Poland and Switzerland. They finished third behind the boats from Great Britain and Poland with a time of 06:13.56 and will race in the Repechage on Saturday morning.

Sanita Puspure won the Women’s Single Scull Heat. Sanita beat crews from Austria, Serbia, Netherlands and Sweden. Sanita held the lead for the majority of the race and finished ahead of Magdalena Lobnig with a time of 07:38.45. Sanita will race in the A/B Semi-Final on Saturday.

Daire Lynch finished second in the Men’s Single Sculls Heat. Daire finished behind Oliver Zeidler from Germany and ahead of the boats from Brazil, Norway and Benin. Daire finished with a time of  07:13.98 and progressed to the Quarter Final later in the day.

Daire raced in the Men’s Single Sculls Quarter Final this afternoon and qualified for the A/B Semi-Final by finishing third. Daire finished just behind the sculler from Lithuania and Sverri Nielsen of Denmark went on to win. Daire booked his place in the A/B Semi-Final tomorrow with a time of 07:11.18.

Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy finished first their Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls Heat. They dominated the heat from the very start and finished well ahead of the chasing pack. They beat crews from Poland, Portugal, Switzerland and Venezuela. Paul and Fintan finished with a time of 06:24.98 and moved to the A/B Semi-Final on Saturday.

Prov. Saturday Times (IST)

09:30 LW1x (Lydia Heaphy) – A/B Semi-Final

09:36 LM1x (Gary O’Donovan) – A/B Semi-Final

10:00 W2- (Aileen Crowley & Monika Dukarska) – Repechage

10:00 W2- (Tara Hanlon & Claire Feerick) – Repechage

10:30 M2x (Ronan Byrne & Phil Doyle) – A/B Semi-Final

10:36 M4- (Jack Dorney, Alex Byrne, John Kearney & Ross Corrigan) – Repechage

10:42 W1x (Sanita Puspure) – A/B Semi-Final

11:00 M1x (Daire Lynch) – A/B Semi-Final 

11:12 (Paul O’Donovan & Fintan McCarthy) A/B Semi-Final

Day One Results

W2- (Aileen Crowley & Monika Dukarska) – 2nd – Heat

W2- (Tara Hanlon & Claire Feerick) – 4th – Heat

M2x (Ronan Byrne & Phil Doyle) – 1st – Heat

LW1x (Lydia Heaphy) – 1st – Heat

LM1x (Gary O’Donovan) – 1st – Heat

M4- (Jack Dorney, Alex Byrne, John Kearney & Ross Corrigan) – 3rd – Heat

W1x (Sanita Puspure) – 1st – Heat

M1x (Daire Lynch) – 2nd – Heat

M1x (Daire Lynch) – 3rd – Quarter-Final

LM2x (Paul O’Donovan & Fintan McCarthy) – 1st – Heat

Follow the Racing

You can follow the racing on World Rowing’s website, www.worldrowing.com

Live Streaming will be available on Sunday for the Finals.