O'Donnell-Ní Laoighre claim bronze, O'Donovan-Lynch, McCarthy-Pazzaia crews and Murtagh qualify
Finals racing got underway on Saturday on day 2 of racing at the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne.
The PR3 Mixed Double Scull crew claimed a bronze medal in their A final. Semi-finals also took place with three Irish crews securing A Final spots.
Zoe Hyde and Mags Cremen placed fourth in the semi-final of the Women's Double Scull, securing a spot in tomorrow's B Final. They raced in a highly competitive heat featuring China, the winners of the last World Cup Regatta in Varese, and Olympic champion Lola Anderson of Great Britain. At the 1000 metre mark, Zoe and Mags sat in sixth position before overtaking the New Zealand crew by the 1500 metre mark. A powerful sprint in the final stretch saw them pass the British crew to finish fourth with a time of 06:53.9.
Fintan McCarthy and Konan Pazzaia won their semi-final in the Men's Double Sculls and will compete in the A Final tomorrow. In a tightly contested race, the duo led from the start, holding off strong challenges from the New Zealand crew and the second Irish boat. They crossed the line with a time of 06:11.43, which was faster than the time posted by Serbia in the first semi-final.
Paul O'Donovan and Daire Lynch finished third in the semi-final of the Men's Double Sculls, securing their place in Sunday's A Final. The crew were in fifth position at the 1000 metre mark, just two seconds off the leaders. They moved up to fourth by the 1500 metre mark and produced a strong sprint finish to overtake Great Britain and qualify for the A Final.
Fiona Murtagh delivered a dominant performance in her semi-final of the Women's Single Sculls, taking first place and securing a spot in tomorrow's A Final. She looked composed throughout, holding clear water by the 1500 metre mark and leading second-place Denmark by three seconds. In the A Final, she will face Great Britain's Lauren Henry, who also produced a commanding win in her semi-final.
Tiarnán O'Donnell and Sadhbh Ní Laoighre finished third in the A Final of the PR3 Mixed Double Sculls and claimed a bronze medal. The duo raced in the PR3 category due to a lack of entries in their own PR2 classification. The event provided valuable racing experience for the new crew.
Siobhán McCrohan finished fifth in the A Final of the Lightweight Women's Single Sculls. She was in sixth place heading into the final 500 metres but produced a strong finish to overtake the sculler from Peru and secure fifth overall with a time of 07:47.16.
Alison Bergin competed in the D Final of the Women's Single Scull this morning, finishing fourth with a time of 07:58.51. At the 1500-metre mark, she held the highest stroke rate on the water, making her the fastest boat at that point. She closed the gap on third-place Peru to just two seconds in the final 250 metres, delivering a strong and determined finish.
Sunday's Schedule:
W2x | Mags Cremen & Zoe Hyde
B Final: Sunday, 29th June – 8:40am IST (Lane 4)
W4- | Feerick, Hayes, Magner & Long
B Final: Sunday, 29th June – 8:50am IST (Lane 4)
M4x | Byrne, Colsh, Murphy & Sheehan
B Final: Sunday, 29th June – 9:10am IST (Lane 3)
M2x | Fintan McCarthy & Konan Pazzaia
A Final: Sunday, 29th June – 11:37am IST (Lane 3)
M2x | Paul O'Donovan & Daire Lynch
A Final: Sunday, 29th June – 11:37am IST (Lane 6)
W1x | Fiona Murtagh
A Final: Sunday, 29th June – 12:38pm IST (Lane 4)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Ireland's Jack Raftery and Sharlene Mawdsley take centre stage at European Athletics Team Championships
Raftery became just the second Irishman in history to break 45 seconds for 400m when clocking 44.98 to finish fourth in the men's race, while Mawdsley made a hugely impressive return to racing – the Tipperary sprinter clocking a season's best of 50.93 to finish third in the women's race. Their performances helped Ireland climb to fifth at the halfway stage, their tally of 192 points putting them within touching distance of the top three in division two: Norway (228), Belgium (226.5) and Slovenia (214.5). The top three nations will gain promotion to the first division on Sunday evening, with the bottom three relegated. The Irish didn't have any winners on day one and while Raftery might not have accrued the most points, his run was the standout individual showing, as the 24-year-old Dubliner hacked a massive chunk off his previous best of 45.75 to move second on the Irish all-time list behind David Gillick's national record of 44.77. 'I can't believe that,' he said. 'I don't have the words. I was coming in thinking if I ran 45.5, I'd be delighted.' Raftery has been working under coaches Gerard O'Donnell and Aideen Sinnott at the Dublin Sprint Club and having gone to the Paris Olympics as a substitue for the mixed relay, he's now in a great position to make the Tokyo World Championships as an individual as his time is just shy of the automatic standard of 44.85. Mawdsley, running her first race since the Grand Slam Track event in Philadelphia in late May, turned in an excellent showing to dip under 51 seconds for the first time this year, not far off the PB of 50.71 she ran at the Paris Olympics. The race was won by Slovakia's Emma Zapletalova in 50.76. 'I don't even know how I made it around,' said Mawdsley, who was running her first race since the death of her father Thomas (Tucker) in early June. 'A season's best is great. It's a shame I didn't come first, I would have loved the top points.' Mawdsley said she is uncertain of her plans for the coming weeks, adding: 'Today was just about getting out there and doing my family proud.' The action closed with a huge performance by the Irish in the men's 4x100m where Michael Farrelly, Sean Aigboboh, Marcus Lawler and Israel Olatunde broke the national record for the second time in eight days, clocking 38.88 to win their heat and finish second overall. 'It's a great run,' said Lawler. 'There's a lot of effort gone into this over the years. We're all delighted.' Bori Akinola had to withdraw from that race after sustaining an injury in the 100m, where he finished fourth in his heat, and eighth overall, clocking 10.62 into a 2.2m/s headwind. The Irish 4x100m women's team of Sarah Leahy, Ciara Neville, Lauren Roy and Sarah Lavin clocked 43.97 to win their heat and finish third overall. Brian Fay secured a runner-up finish in the men's 5000m, the Dubliner showing his vast range of gears on the last lap of a tactical race, clocking 13:56.07 to finish a close second to Belgium's Isaac Kimeli (13:55.70). Shane Bracken had an impressive run in the men's 1500m, the Mayo man finishing a close third in 3:42.92. Sophie O'Sullivan turned in an off-colour performance in the women's 800m, the recently crowned NCAA 1500m champion coming home eighth in her heat in 2:12.87. Paris Olympian Eric Favors threw 19.42m to finish fifth in the men's shot put, while David Cussen cleared 2.16m to finish fifth in the high jump. Reigning European U-20 champion Elizabeth Ndudi jumped 6.26m to finish fourth in the long jump, Ava O'Connor finished fourth in the women's 3000m steeplechase in 9:45.09, while Niamh Fogarty threw 52.20m to finish fifth in the discus. Fintan Dewhirst had to battle injury in his heat of the 400m hurdles, trailing home eighth and last in 79.01 seconds but making sure he reached the line to earn some valuable points. Elsewhere, rising star Conor Kelly broke his own Irish U-20 400m record when clocking 46.06 at the Junioren Gala in Mannheim, Germany, improving the 46.18 record he set in Brussels last month.
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Jack Raftery and Sharlene Mawdsley impress for Ireland at European Team Championships
Two superb 400m runs by Jack Raftery and Sharlene Mawdsley, along with a 4x100m national record by the men's relay team, put Ireland firmly in the hunt for promotion after the first day of the European Athletics Team Championships in Maribor, Slovenia on Saturday. Raftery became just the second Irishman in history to break 45 seconds for 400m when clocking 44.98 to finish fourth in the men's race, while Mawdsley made a hugely impressive return to racing – the Tipperary sprinter clocking a season's best of 50.93 to finish third in the women's race. Their performances helped Ireland climb to fifth at the halfway stage, their tally of 192 points putting them within touching distance of the top three in division two: Norway (228), Belgium (226.5) and Slovenia (214.5). The top three nations will gain promotion to the first division on Sunday evening, with the bottom three relegated. The Irish didn't have any winners on day one and while Raftery might not have accrued the most points, his run was the standout individual showing – the 24-year-old Dubliner hacking a massive chunk off his previous best of 45.75 to move second on the Irish all-time list behind David Gillick's national record of 44.77. 'I can't believe that,' he said. 'I don't have the words. I was coming in thinking if I ran 45.5, I'd be delighted.' Raftery has been working under coaches Gerard O'Donnell and Aideen Sinnott at the Dublin Sprint Club and having gone to the Paris Olympics as a sub for the mixed relay, he's now in a great position to make the Tokyo World Championships as an individual, his time just shy of the automatic standard of 44.85. Mawdsley, running her first race since the Grand Slam Track event in Philadelphia in late May, turned in an excellent showing to dip under 51 seconds for the first time this year, not far off the PB of 50.71 she ran at the Paris Olympics. The race was won by Slovakia's Emma Zapletalova in 50.76. 'I don't even know how I made it around,' said Mawdsley, who was running her first race since the death of her father Thomas (Tucker) in early June. 'A season's best is great. It's a shame I didn't come first, I would have loved the top points.' Mawdsley said she is uncertain of her plans for the coming weeks, adding: 'Today was just about getting out there and doing my family proud.' The action closed with a huge performance by the Irish in the men's 4x100m where Michael Farrelly, Sean Aigboboh, Marcus Lawler and Israel Olatunde broke the national record for the second time in eight days, clocking 38.88 to win their heat and finish second overall. 'It's a great run,' said Lawler. 'There's a lot of effort gone into this over the years. We're all delighted.' Bori Akinola had to withdraw from that race after sustaining an injury in the 100m, where he finished fourth in his heat, and eighth overall, clocking 10.62 into a 2.2m/s headwind. The Irish 4x100m women's team of Sarah Leahy, Ciara Neville, Lauren Roy and Sarah Lavin clocked 43.97 to win their heat and finish third overall. Brian Fay secured a runner-up finish in the men's 5000m, the Dubliner showing his vast range of gears on the last lap of a tactical race, clocking 13:56.07 to finish a close second to Belgium's Isaac Kimeli (13:55.70). Shane Bracken had an impressive run in the men's 1500m, the Mayo man finishing a close third in 3:42.92. Sophie O'Sullivan turned in an off-colour performance in the women's 800m, the recently crowned NCAA 1500m champion coming home eighth in her heat in 2:12.87. Paris Olympian Eric Favors threw 19.42m to finish fifth in the men's shot put, while David Cussen cleared 2.16m to finish fifth in the high jump. Reigning European U-20 champion Elizabeth Ndudi jumped 6.26m to finish fourth in the long jump, Ava O'Connor finished fourth in the women's 3000m steeplechase in 9:45.09, while Niamh Fogarty threw 52.20m to finish fifth in the discus. Fintan Dewhirst had to battle injury in his heat of the 400m hurdles, trailing home eighth and last in 79.01 seconds but making sure he reached the line to earn some valuable points. Elsewhere, rising star Conor Kelly broke his own Irish U-20 400m record when clocking 46.06 at the Junioren Gala in Mannheim, Germany, improving the 46.18 record he set in Brussels last month.
Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Irish powerhouse trainers Mullins and Elliott spend big at Derby Sale
Irish powerhouse trainers Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott spent close to €2 million between them at a two-day sale this week. While the focus switches to flat racing during the summer, it is time for restocking for jumps trainers as they try to unearth the next big equine talent. And Mullins and Elliott both dived deep into the pockets at the Tattersalls Derby Sale, where many beautifully bred store horses were on offer. Mullins bought nine unraced horses for a total of €1,230,000, including a €180,000 purchase of a Nathaniel gelding from Castledillon Agent. The Carlow trainer's long-time bloodstock agent Harold Kirk said of the purchase: 'It has been hard to get a Nathaniel out of a jumping pedigree, and this horse is out of a Poliglote mare, which I love, and it is a very good jumping family – Don Lino lower down the pedigree was a top horse in France.' He added: 'A lot of the Nathaniels who have gone jumping are out of Flat mares so you're hoping that, when they have jumping pedigrees, they will be even better. 'All the horses I am buying here will be purchased with the €100,000 Tattersalls Ireland MSL Mercedes-Benz Sales Bumper in mind – moving the race to a December date works well for us and it gives us options.' Gordon Elliott, meanwhile, bought three horses for a total of €510,000. The Meath handler's biggest buy was a €235,000 Blue Bresil gelding, who is on the same cross as the sire's superstar son Constitution Hill. Elliott, who was alongside Eddie O'Leary in the sales ring, said: "He is a lovely athletic horse, one we have been waiting for all week. "We will get him home now and broken in. His half-brother, Handstands, is a very talented horse." €17,576,000 changed hands at the Derby Sale. Four horses were sold for over €200,000 with a Walk In The Park gelding out of Posh Trish (Lot 338) topping the sale at €285,000.
