#Rowing: Denise Walsh and Aoife Casey took third in their repechage of the lightweight double sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Bulgaria this morning. Switzerland, who won well, and Japan took the top two places and qualified for the A/B Semi-Finals. Walsh and Casey were fourth for much of the race, but passed Austria in the final sprint, though they were unable to get past Japan. Ireland is now set for the C/D Semi-Finals.  

World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Day Three (Irish interest)

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – Repechage One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Switzerland 6:57.90, 2 Japan 7:00.67; 3 Ireland (A Casey, D Walsh) 7:03.88.

#Rowing: Ireland’s Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan won their heat with a sparkling performance at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv. Germany’s newly-formed lightweight double of Jonathan Rommelmann and Konstantin Steinhuebel seemed set to give the Ireland crew a test, leading through half way and 1500 metres. But the O’Donovans had much better base speed and left their rivals behind in the final quarter. Portugal and Argentina also qualified for the quarter-finals.

 Denise Walsh and Aoife Casey finished fourth in their heat of the lightweight double sculls. The first two positions were the valuable ones, as they secured a place in the semi-finals. New Zealand, Australia and Canada fought it out, with New Zealand’s Zoe McBride and Jackie Kiddle  securing a clear first, while Australia edged Canada out by .34 of a second. Walsh and Casey were over 10 seconds further back.

 The women’s pair of Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty qualified from their heat for the semi-finals, finishing second, while the men’s pair (fifth) and double (second) will have to compete in repechages.

World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Pair – Heat Four (First Four to Quarter-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada 6:20.46, 2 South Africa 6:21.85, 3 France 6:25.43, 4 Belarus 6:28.22; 5 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:29.10

Double Sculls – Heat One (Winner to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechages): 1 New Zealand 6:02.23; 2 Ireland (P Doyle, R Byrne) 6:12.61

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Five (First Four to Quarter-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:15.79, 2 Germany 6:19.23, 3 Portugal 6:21.55, 4 Argentina 6:30.24.

Women

Pair – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechage): 1 New Zealand 6:56.06, 2 Ireland (A Keogh, E Hegarty) 7:11.51, 3 United States 7:13.02.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Three (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages):  1 New Zealand 6:50.04, 2 Australia 6:51.11; 4 Ireland (A Casey, D Walsh) 7:02.25.

#Rowing: Denise Walsh and Aoife Casey gave Irish fans plenty to cheer about at the European Rowing Championships in Strathclyde Park in Scotland. The Ireland lightweight double fought it out with Germany in an exciting B Final. Germany’s Leonie Pless and Katrin Thoma led at halfway, but Walsh and Casey pushed into that lead for the remaining 1,000 metres. As they crews came to the line, cheered on by the crowd, Ireland upped the rate. The Germans held out and won by one-third of a length.

European Rowing Championships, Day Four (Irish interest)

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 11): 1 Germany 7:11.14, 2 Ireland (A Casey, D Walsh) 7:11.77, 3 Austria 7:15.63.

#Rowing: Ireland finished third in the repechage of the lightweight women’s double sculls and will compete in the B Final at the European Rowing Championships at Strathclyde in Scotland. Switzerland and Britain took the two A Final places which were on offer, racing clear of the rest of the crews for most of the contest. Aoife Casey and Denise Walsh led the rest, but could not close the gap.

European Rowing Championships, Strathclyde, Scotland – Day Two (Irish interest)

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – Repechage One (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Switzerland 7:03.89, 2 Britain 7:06.04; 3 Ireland (A Casey, D Walsh) 7:11.31.

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan won his heat of the single sculls in an excellent time of seven minutes 7.8 seconds in glorious sunshine at Cork Regatta today. The Skibbereen man had 2.7 seconds to spare over heavyweight oarsman Ronan Byrne of UCC. Gary O’Donovan wont the previous heat in the third-fastest time, with Sam McKeown not far behind, setting the fourth fastest time overall.

Lisa Dilleen of Cork Boat Club was the fastest women’s single sculler in the heats, with Denise Walsh of Skibbereen second.

#Rowing: Margaret Cremen and Denise Walsh qualified for the A/B semi-finals at the World Cup regatta in Belgrade today. The Lee/Skibbereen combination took third place in their repechage. Poland and the Netherlands fought for the lead, with the Dutch coming out on top. Walsh and Cremen comfortably held off Austria and China Two, who drop into the C Final.

World Cup Regatta, Belgrade (Irish interest)

Men

Pair – Heat Four (Winner to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Czech Republic 6:41.22; 2 Spain 6:48.03, 3 China One 6:51.79, 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:51.91. Repechage Three (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; third to C Final; rest to C or D Final): 1 Netherlands One 6:48.68, 2 Netherlands Two 6:50.07; 3 Ireland 6:51.82.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Three (First two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Canada Two 6:32.69, 2 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:34.29.

Women

Pair – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Britain One 7:19.05, 2 Britain Two 7:22.92, 3 Ireland (A Keogh, E Hegarty) 7:23.77.

Double Sculls – Heat Three (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Netherlands 7:10.90, 2 China One 7:16.89, 3 Ireland (A Crowley, M Dukarska) 7:20.40.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat One (First two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Britain One 7:26.96, 2 United States One 7:28.40; 5 Ireland (M Cremen, D Walsh) 7:50.34. Repechage Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C Final): 1 Netherlands 7:24.73, 2 Poland 7:25.79, 3 Ireland 7:30.46.  

Single Sculls – Heat One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:50.48, 2 Ukraine (D Dymchenko) 7:59.30.

#Rowing: Denise Walsh and Margaret Cremen finished fifth in their heat of the lightweight double sculls at the World Cup Regatta in Belgrade and must compete in a repechage as they seek a semi-final place. There were just two places on offer in the heat and Britain One and the United States One asserted control early on and took them in that order. Ireland found themselves behind four crews from early on in the race and the order did not change.    

World Cup Regatta, Belgrade (Irish interest)

Men

Pair – Heat Four (Winner to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Czech Republic 6:41.22; 2 Spain 6:48.03, 3 China One 6:51.79, 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:51.91.

Women

Pair – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Britain One 7:19.05, 2 Britain Two 7:22.92, 3 Ireland (A Keogh, E Hegarty) 7:23.77.

Double Sculls – Heat Three (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Netherlands 7:10.90, 2 China One 7:16.89, 3 Ireland (A Crowley, M Dukarska) 7:20.40.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat One (First two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Britain One 7:26.96, 2 United States One 7:28.40; 5 Ireland (M Cremen, D Walsh) 7:50.34.

Single Sculls – Heat One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:50.48, 2 Ukraine (D Dymchenko) 7:59.30.

#Rowing: The standard was high at the second session of the Ireland Trial at the National Rowing Centre in Cork. Patrick Boomer and Andy Harrington again tested Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan in the pair – this time the margin was just 1.3 seconds – and Sanita Puspure came in under seven minutes 40 seconds in another outstanding performance in the single sculls.

There was an all-Skibbereen shootout in the lightweight doubles: twins Jake and Fintan McCarthy, who are just 21, came in just 2.8 seconds behind Paul and Gary O’Donovan.

Margaret Cremen teamed up with Denise Walsh to produce a fast lightweight double, while Monika Dukarsa and Aileen Crowley formed a heavyweight double which also produced a good performance. Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty formed a pair which also bettered 90 per cent of projected world best time.

A second configuration of the men’s junior quad did very well, while the women’s junior double from Workmen’s again produced one of the best performances of the day.

#Rowing: Sanita Puspure and Paul O’Donovan were impressive winners of the single sculls tests at the Ireland trial at the National Rowing Centre today. Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan won their pairs race, but only by 2.8 seconds from the very tall crew of Andy Harrington and Patrick Boomer.

Denise Walsh won the lightweight single sculls from Margaret Cremen. Aoife Casey was absent because of exams. The top women’s pair were Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty, while Aaron Keogh of Three Castles beat Rory O’Neill of Castleconnell in the junior single sculls.

#Rowing: Top internationals, including world champion Paul O’Donovan, Denise Walsh and Monika Dukarska, are amongst the big entry of over 400 crews from 26 clubs entered for the Muckross Head of the River on Saturday at the National Rowing Centre. The Ireland women’s pair which competed at the World Championships, Aileen Crowley and Aifric Keogh, are also entered. They are set to take on Emily Hegarty and Tara Hanlon, the crew which came closest to matching them at the recent Ireland Trial.