‘There is still stuff to improve on' – Ireland medal on the double at World Cup regatta in Lucerne

Irish Independent

6 days ago

Fiona Murtagh, who switched to single sculling before the European Championships last month, raced superbly to take silver. Fintan McCarthy and Konan Pazzaia took bronze in the openweight double. Paul O'Donovan and Daire Lynch did not get hold of the race and finished fifth.
Both medal-winning crews matched their placings at the Europeans, and both have reasons to see plenty of room for improvement. Pazzaia told the Irish Independent that he had been nursing a back injury which had curtailed training for this double.
Murtagh may take the most from her performance. Under the guidance of lead coach Dominic Casey, she made the jump from a successful career in sweep rowing – she was a key part of the bronze-medal four at Tokyo 2020 – to mark herself out as a real prospect in the single, one of the core events in the rowing programme.
Britain's Lauren Henry took gold at both the Europeans and in Lucerne, but Murtagh's competitiveness had gone up a level from their last encounter, and Henry had to pull out the stops to beat the taller Murtagh.
The Moycullen woman said she felt good. 'It was the same result (as the Europeans), but it was a very different race.'
With coach Denise Walsh, one of the things she had been working on was executing a better start and performing better in the first 1,000 metres. 'I feel like I executed that really well. It's just fine tuning and efficiency that I am lacking,' she said. 'I'm raw; I'm rough around the edges. I do not have slickness; I feel that was what let it slip (away).'
She felt that the race was a positive, learning experience. 'My time will come!'
McCarthy and Pazzaia blasted off the start and looked well set for a win for much of their final, only to be hauled in by Serbia and New Zealand coming to the line.
'Mixed emotions,' Pazzaia said. 'Obviously really happy to come back with a bronze medal. It's been a tough few weeks for the combination. I was suffering a bit of an injury so we did not have that much time in the boat together.'
He added: 'We weren't able to bring back the gold this time, but there's definitely a massive fire in my belly now to do better.'
He said they had a lot of work to do before the World Championships in Shanghai (September 21st to 28th), but it was good to know that another step up was possible.
'In a way it's really good for us to know that there is still stuff to improve on. But even at our 70 per cent we can still medal.'
Do they take encouragement from the fact that they took out the Olympic champions, Romania, in the semi-final? 'I have a double Olympic champion in the boat as well, you know!'
Paul O'Donovan has been concentrating on his medical career and was competing for the first time this season. He and Lynch were sixth with 500 metres to go and could do no more than improve their standing by one place.
The standout amongst the remaining crews on the final day was the eighth-place finish for the men's quadruple. The crew built around young talent finished their B Final like a train, and were just .33 seconds behind winners Czechia. The women's four took third in their B Final, 9th overall, while the double of Mags Cremen and Zoe Hyde finished 6th in the B Final, 12th overall.
In the week ahead, a combination of the two Ireland doubles – McCarthy, O'Donovan, Pazzaia and Lynch – head for Henley Royal Regatta in a self-created quadruple. If they make it through the quarter final they are set to take on the British quadruple in the semi-final. Britain won gold in Lucerne.
Pazzaia sees Henley as a recreational outing. 'We are going (there) to have a bit of a good time rowing,' he says.
Murtagh will not go to Henley, but has targeted the Irish Championships in mid July.
'I've never won the senior single sculls. It's something I've never won and thought I'd never race.'
New to her, she will be the favourite - as befits the World Cup and European silver medallist.