#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan is set to have an extraordinary August, competing at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam. He is named the Afloat Rower of the Month for his achievements in June. Paul and his brother, Gary, continued their impressive run in the lightweight double sculls. They took fourth in the World Cup regatta in Poznan, Poland. They placed ahead of Britain, who were silver medallists at the World Championships in 2015, in both the repechage and the final. Germany, who were sixth last year, could not qualify from the repechage, which was won by Ireland in the fastest time they have done in a race. They head off to a block of training in Spain having moved from 11th in the world last year to a ranking of 5th in the bookies’ odds for Rio.
Paul O’Donovan has been chosen to compete in the lightweight single in Rotterdam. In a shoot-out with Gary at Cork Regatta in the senior single he proved his credentials with a big win. Despite being a lightweight, he is the best single sculler in Ireland.
Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, and David O'Brien, editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2016. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2016 champions list grow.
