#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan won his heat of the lightweight single sculls at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships at Varese in Italy today. Britain’s Sam Mottram held the lead in the middle stages of the race, but O’Donovan passed him and won, with Brazil and Japan taking the other qualifying places for the quarter-finals.
The Ireland four of Richie Bennett, Kevin Neville, Fionán McQuillan-Tolan and Rob O’Callaghan finished fifth in their heat and will compete in a repechage tomorrow. The Irish could not find a way into contention for the top-three spot they needed. Italy won from Croatia and the United States. Belarus took fourth.
World Under-23 Championships, Varese, Italy. Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest)
Men
Four – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Italy 6:00.06, 2 Croatia 6:02.31, 3 United States 6:05.38; 4 Belarus 6:07.95, 5 Ireland (R Bennett, K Neville, F McQuillan-Tolan, R O’Callaghan) 6:22.36.
Lightweight Single Sculls (First Four to Quarter-Finals): 1 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:08.58, 2 Britain 7:11.14, 3 Brazil 7:19.02, Japan 7:20.05; 5 Portugal 7:22.59.