Historic Worlds medal for Howth sailor Eve McMahon
McMahon, 22, made her Olympic debut last year after a stellar underage career and the Howth woman has won the bronze medal at the ILCA World Championships during an epic final day in Qingdao, China.
McMahon finished a remarkable series in third place in the women's ILCA 6 event behind Poland's Agata Barwinska in second while Louise Cervera of France took gold.
It is the first time an Irish female sailor has medalled at the senior World Championships and a huge achievement for McMahon, who already has two back-to-back under-21 World Championships to her name.
"This is another truly historic moment for Irish Sailing, Eve is the first female sailor to win a senior world championship medal,' commented James O'Callaghan, Irish Sailing's Performance Director. "Massive credit goes to Eve's determination and coach team of Vasilij Zbogar and Rory Fitzpatrick."
In the six races sailed in China, McMahon recorded results within the top six places in the 99-boat event while also avoiding any penalties. "We were struggling in the last few events but we've worked really hard to fix that before coming to China," commented Zbogar.
"We spent time in Lymington training in (tidal) current with the British team and that really helped us fight for a medal - and get a medal.
"It was a really difficult day with very strong winds but Eve made three solid races. She is sailing really well and we're looking forward to the days and months of competition ahead."
In the ILCA 7 men's event, Carlow's Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) bounced back from a faltering start on Friday with three top six results including second place in the final race.
Those results moved him back up the leaderboard to end 15th overall, though a longer regatta would likely have seen him in a more familiar top 10 result.
Team-mate Ewan McMahon (Howth YC) - Eve's brother - counted a ninth and a tenth in the 138-boat event to finish 19th overall and just four points behind Lynch. Like his sister, he scored only top 10 results reflecting a very close points difference at the top of the fleet.
Meanwhile, on her first senior level world championship, Sienna Wright (Howth YC) ended in an impressive mid-fleet position though a ninth place in her opening race on Friday plus several top 20 results are indicators of her growing form.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
an hour ago
- The Journal
Here's the Lions team - including nine Irish starters - for Saturday's second Test
Murray Kinsella Reports from Melbourne ANDY FARRELL HAS brought Bundee Aki, Andrew Porter, and Ollie Chessum into his Lions starting XV for Saturday's second Test against the Wallabies in Melbourne [KO 11am Irish time, Sky Sports]. Despite Joe McCarthy missing out due to injury, Ireland head coach Farrell is calling on nine Irish starters in his Lions team as he looks to clinch the series at the MCG. Porter comes in at loosehead prop as Ellis Genge drops to the bench, meaning it's an all-Irish starting front row of Porter, Dan Sheehan, and Tadhg Furlong. Chessum starts in the second row in place of McCarthy, who has a foot injury. Maro Itoje captains the side again, while the back row of Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, and Jack Conan is unchanged. Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell continue as the halfbacks, but there's a change at inside centre as Aki comes in for Sione Tuipulotu, who is left out of the matchday 23 altogether. Having initially been selected to start, Garry Ringrose misses out due to a head injury, as Huw Jones instead continues at number 13. The back three of James Lowe, Tommy Freeman, and Hugo Keenan is unchanged. There are a few fresh faces on the Lions bench, with Ireland's James Ryan, Wales' Jac Morgan, England's Owen Farrell, and Scotland's Blair Kinghorn included. Meanwhile, Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt has brought heavy hitters Will Skelton and Rob Valetini into his starting XV for the second Test. Second row Skelton and back row Valetini missed last weekend due to calf injuries. Advertisement Hooker Dave Porecki also comes into the Wallabies team, while back row Langi Gleeson returns from injury as part of a 6/2 split on the bench Lions: 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Tommy Freeman 13. Huw Jones 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Finn Russell 9. Jamison Gibson-Park 1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Maro Itoje (captain) 5. Ollie Chessum 6. Tadhg Beirne 7. Tom Curry 8. Jack Conan Replacements : 16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Ellis Genge 18. Will Stuart 19. James Ryan 20. Jac Morgan 21. Alex Mitchell 22. Owen Farrell 23. Blair Kinghorn Australia: 15. Tom Wright 14. Max Jorgensen 13. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 12. Len Ikitau 11. Harry Potter 10. Tom Lynagh 9. Jake Gordon 1. James Slipper 2. David Porecki 3. Allan Alaalatoa 4. Nick Frost 5. Will Skelton 6. Rob Valetini 7. Fraser McReight 8. Harry Wilson (captain) Replacements : 16. Billy Pollard 17. Angus Bell 18. Tom Robertson 19. Jeremy Williams 20. Langi Gleeson 21. Carlo Tizzano 22. Tate McDermott 23. Ben Donaldson Referee : Andrea Piardi [Italy].
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Fintan McCarthy admits partnership with Paul O'Donovan ‘up in the air' after facing fellow Olympics gold medal hero
WHEN Paul O'Donovan's brother Gary made way for Fintan McCarthy, it was a reminder that nothing lasts forever in rowing. And now McCarthy is getting his head around the fact that one of Irish sport's most successful sporting partnerships may not have another chapter in their story. 2 Pictured at the Multi Sport Pavilion, Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin is Olympic rower Fintan McCarthy Credit: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile 2 Olympic Champions in lightweight men's double sculls Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile The siblings won silver in Rio before Gary, the older of the two, was supplanted by McCarthy for Tokyo. A gold medal in 2021 justified the selection and the pair Winning a hat-trick of Olympic titles will be a little more complicated. For one, the the Games , prompting a step-up to heavyweight. Read More on Olympics Secondly, right now, they are in what might be called — in sporting terms — an open relationship . So at the World Cup in But the pair still found themselves gravitating towards one another off the water . Alongside Konan Pazzaia, McCarthy came third. Most read in Other Sports O'Donovan paired up with Daire Lynch — who took bronze in Paris with Philip Doyle — and finished fifth. McCarthy said: 'It was strange. We're so used to each other, which is the main thing I found with other people. Paul O'Donovan wins RTE Sportsperson of the Year 2024 after winning third Olympic medal in a row in Paris 'You kind of have to get to know people's routines, the way they work and their sort of maybe temperament around racing and stuff, whereas I would just be so used to that with Paul. 'It was funny in Lucerne. I think we found ourselves just getting back into the routine of having dinner at the same time. 'Like we all ate together and that kind of thing. 'And then going out to race , you sort of remind yourself like, 'Oh yeah, sorry. It's a bit different'. 'It was strange but he hasn't really been around this year anyway. So it wasn't too much of a shock either. 'But it was nice to have him there actually. 'We got along quite well over there, despite racing against each other. 'At the moment, it's quite up in the air. 'Paul is obviously focusing on his medical career at the moment. 'We don't really know where that's going to take him over the next few years. 'So you kind of have to plan to be without him for a while at least. 'And that is hard because I know how good what we had was and how successful it could be. 'But having said that, there's a lot of talent in the rowing centre as well.' NOTHING NEW That includes Pazzaia, the Geneva-born son of a But McCarthy stressed his new partner has been on the Irish rowing scene for some time already. He said: 'He's not new by any stretch. 'We seem to have had a pretty good double so far.' Pazzaia — who grew up in University — was inspired to take up rowing after seeing the exploits of the O'Donovan brothers nine years ago. McCarthy is not unaware of the passing of time and the changing of dynamics. He said: 'I guess as the Olympic cycles go on, it kind of becomes my job to sort of be what Paul was for me early on and bring on the other guys, which I quite like. 'I probably have a lot to share and offer that will help them. And that's only going to help whoever ends up being in the boat for the Games be the quickest in LA.' But if there is still much up in the air, that is as much by design as circumstance. "We're so used to each other, which is the main thing I found with other people." Fintan McCarthy McCarthy is racing in both the single and quad this year, although he does ultimately still see himself in the double. The 28-year-old is enjoying the freedom that comes in the year after an Olympics, admitting he has allowed himself to party after recent regattas. The Skibbereen man is also savouring the release of no longer having to weigh in at 69kg. He said: 'I feel like we were so dialled in last year that for me anyway, we nearly went too far over the edge. 'I got quite sick in May and I was a bit injured as well. 'That is kind of part of it, especially in an Olympic year. 'I think sometimes that drive to just go all in for a year and leave no stone unturned, it can catch up to you quite quickly, especially when you're so on the line in terms of food and making weight anyway, that it's quite easy to tip the scales. 'So just not having to ride that line so hard has been kind of refreshing as well, knowing that you're going to have the energy to do big sessions and actually recover from them as well. 'That's probably been a relief in itself. 'And then when you add into that, like growing with different people, mixing the groups together, different training partners and stuff, it is all quite new. 'It's not too boring yet anyway.' HITTING TOP FORM There is, he conceded, a large element of trial and error about this year with no markers to hit as they figure out the best way for him and O'Donovan to negotiate the move to heavyweight. But McCarthy does that in the comfort of knowing that the dynamic duo were already within touching distance of the standard required to be in contention for further Olympic glory. He said: 'We kind of knew in top form as the lightweights, we were pretty much up there with the heavy guys. 'We would have done a lot of training with Daire and Phil, they were in the medals in Paris too. 'So we can kind of gauge off them and know that we can do quite well in the double in top form. 'If you look at Paris, we actually had a faster time than the heavyweight guys who had won gold. 'And we raced Romania at the World Cup and they didn't make the final. They are Olympic champions. 'I think it is all to play for, especially in that boat class. And so that is sort of why it hasn't been like a reinvent-the-wheel kind of thing. 'This year was more about figuring out how we can gain those extra maybe two or three seconds and seeing where it needs to come from. 'It might not actually need to be too much extra weight. 'It could just be not having to restrict coming into competition, so we'll have a bit more energy to do a bit more training and get that extra speed from a bit more fitness. 'Leading into competitions as lightweights, for me especially, you can't help but drop the volume and drop the intensity a little bit. 'You can't eat enough to sustain that type of training while also losing enough weight to be 69kg on race day and be somewhat healthy. 'We've been a bit freer in the gym as well. 'Usually, it's a lot of maintenance in the summer rather than pushing on the strength and building. 'We have been able to kind of keep up a pretty good gym routine coming into the summer. 'And we've never really been able to do that before. 'I think there's probably more scope to gain a bit of speed from the fitness side of things for this summer.'
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Australia v The Lions: Nine Irish start for Andy Farrell's men in second Test
Live | Nine Irish take to the field as Andy Farrell and the Lions look to make it two from two against Australia. Rian Roctor brings you all the action from the second Test.
