#Rowing: Gary and Paul O'Donovan, the world champions in the lightweight double, won a key race at the Ireland trials today. Fintan and Jake McCarthy were two lengths behind the O'Donovans with 400 metres to go, but tightened it to a length on the line. The trials go on, with tests of different combinations.

Conditions at the National Rowing Centre were remarkably good.

#Rowing: Ireland’s lightweight double of Fintan and Jake McCarthy took fifth in the A Final at the European Rowing Championships in Lucerne. Germany won gold, fighting off Italy and Belgium, who took silver and bronze. The Skibbereen twins were sixth through 500, 1,000 and 1500 metre marks, but lifted themselves to fifth in the final quarter, closing fast on Spain, who took fourth by .65 of a second from Ireland.

Earlier, Ireland's Sanita Puspure had taken gold in the women's single sculls. 

European Championships, Lucerne, Day Three (Irish interest)

Men

Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Germany 6:19.30, 2 Lithuania 6:19.44, 3 Italy 6:22.64, 4 Ireland (P Doyle, R Byrne) 6:22.81

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 Germany 6:12.58, 2 Italy 6:13.95, 3 Belgium 6:15.51; 4 Spain 6:18.42, 5 Ireland (F McCarthy, J McCarthy) 6:19.07.

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Netherlands 7:05.12; 6 Ireland (D Walsh, L Heaphy) 7:22.38.

Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:23.18, 2 Switzerland (J Gmelin) 7:24.04, 3 Czech Republic (M Topinkova Knapkova) 7:24.85; 4 Austria 7:25.03.

#Rowing: The McCarthy twins, Jake and Fintan, took their place in the A Final of the lightweight double sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Lucerne today. They slotted into third place in their semi-final, almost level with Spain after both crews had chased the winners, Germany. The Czech Republic missed out in fourth.

 The Ireland women’s lightweight double of Lydia Heaphy and Denise Walsh took sixth in their semi-final and go the the B Final.  

European Championships, Lucerne, Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

Double Sculls – Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Netherlands 6:11.71, 2 Britain 6:12.61, 3 France 6:13.81; 4 Ireland (P Doyle, R Byrne) 6:14.37.

Lightweight Double Sculls - Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Germany 6:16.29, 2 Spain 6:17.83, 3 Ireland (F McCarthy, J McCarthy) 6:17.97; 4 Czech Republic 6:18.78.

Lightweight Single Sculls – C Final (Places 13 to 17): 1 Austria (R Kepplinger) 7:09.42; 4 Ireland (G O’Donovan) 7:18.11.

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Switzerland 6:55.47, 2 Italy 6:55.92, 3 Romania 6:56.25; 6 Ireland (D Walsh, L Heaphy) 7:18.75.

#Rowing: Jake and Fintan McCarthy produced a brilliant final sprint to take a place in the semi-finals of the lightweight double sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Lucerne today. Just two crews would go through, and Italy led the way. The world silver medallists stayed ahead of a tight pack of challengers, with Ukraine closest as they came to the line. But the McCarthy twins upped their rate and pushed Ukraine out of a qualifying spot by a quarter of a second.

 Lydia Heaphy and Denise Walsh, a new crew, did very well to qualify directly for their semi-final. They took the third and final qualifying spot in their heat. Switzerland and Britain fought it out at the head of the field, with Ireland holding off Spain and Sweden.

European Championships, Lucerne, Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Double Sculls – Heat One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Ireland (P Doyle, R Byrne) 6:26.53, 2 Romania 6:29.62.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Italy (S Oppo, P Ruta) 6:14.73, 2 Ireland (J McCarthy, F McCarthy) 6:16.07; 3 Ukraine 6:16.32.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Italy (M Goretti) 7:05.54, 2 Switzerland (J Schaeuble) 7:06.73; 6 Ireland (G O’Donovan) 7:34.73.

Women

Single Sculls – Heat Three (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:30.65, Britain (V Thornley) 7:35.35

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Three (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Switzerland 6:57.58, 2 Britain 6:58.61,  Ireland (D Walsh, L Heaphy) 7:14.55.

#Rowing: Ireland crews contended in four A Finals on Sunday in the Memorial Paolo d’Aloja in Italy. There were two close-up fourth places: the lightweight men’s double of Jake McCarthy and Fintan McCarthy lost bronze to Portugal in the closing stages of their race, while the novel four of Tara Hanlon, Sanita Puspure, Aifric Keogh and Monika Dukarska fought to prevent a 1-2-3 of Romania crews in their race but missed out. The four of Claire Feerick, Emily Hegarty, Aileen Crowley and Claire Lambe were fifth.

 Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne were on the pace in the men’s double, but finished fifth, while Cliodna Nolan and Lydia Heaphy took sixth in the lightweight women’s double sculls.  

Memorial Paolo d’Aloja, Piediluco, Italy, Finals (Irish results; selected)

Saturday

Men

Double – A Final: 3 P Doyle, R Byrne 6:33.90.

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 3 F McCarthy, J McCarthy 6:38.43.

Women

Pair – A Final: 5 A Keogh, M Dukarska 7:33.3; 7 A Crowley, E Hegarty 7:42.36. B Final: 3 C Feerick, E Lambe 7:45.41.

Lightweight Double – A Final: 6 C Nolan, L Heaphy 7:48.91.

Single – A Final: 1 S Puspure 7:58.89.

Sunday

Men

Double Sculls – A Final: 5 P Doyle, R Byrne 6:41.56.

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 4 F McCarthy, J McCarthy 6:45.55.

Women

Four – A Final: 4 T Hanlon, S Puspure, A Keogh, M Dukarska 7:05.53; 5 C Feerick, E Hegarty, A Crowley, E Lambe 7:06.98.

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 6 C Nolan, L Heaphy 7:57.33.

#Rowing: An Ireland heavyweight four of Mark O’Donovan, Fionnan Crowley, Andy Harrington and Shane O’Driscoll got its first outing in the second session of the Ireland Trials on Saturday. Their test against Ronan Byrne and Philip Doyle – who did have a handicap of 15 seconds – ended with a victory for the double.

The pair of Monika Dukarska and Aifric Keogh got a battle from the junior double of Molly Curry and Rhiannon O’Donoghue, in a race won by lightweight single sculler Fintan McCarthy.

At the London Head of the River, provisional rankings placed Commercial’s senior eight 20^th.

#Rowing: A big and enthusiastic crowd greeted rowers from the Ireland World Championships team at the National Rowing Centre today. Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty, who reached the final of the women’s pair, joined gold medallists Sanita Puspure, Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan.

The Minister of State with responsibility for Sport, Brendan Griffin, told the rowers and the crowd that he was fighting for funding at cabinet level, while the Cork County Mayor, Patrick Gerard Murphy, made an eloquent speech about how the present team inspire others.

Outside, the All Ireland Youth and Irish Open Regatta reflected the enthusiasm and ambition of the contenders for top spots. Lee woman Margaret Cremen was a convincing winner of the single sculls, while Fintan McCarthy – who was exempt, as he had competed at the World Championships – went ahead and won the men’s single.

Earlier Jack Dorney of Shandon and Aoife Lynch of Lee won the junior singles.

Irish Open Regatta, National Rowing Centre, Cork, September 29^th

Men

Four: UCD (senior). Under-23: Coláiste Iognáid (jun).

Pair: NUIG (D Buckley, E Whittle; sen). Under-23: UCD. Jun: Commercial.

Sculling

Double: St Michael’s/UCC (sen). Under-23: Three Castles (jun)

Single: Skibbereen (F McCarthy; sen). Under-23: Queen’s (M Taylor). Jun: Enniskillen (O Donaghy)

Women

Four: Colaiste Iognaid A (jun)

Pair: UCC/Skibbereen (T Hanlon, N Casey; sen). U-23: Bann/Neptune. Jun: St Michael’s A.

Sculling

Double: Neptune/Bann (sen). U-23: Killorglin (jun).

Single: UCC (M Cremen, Under-23). NUIG (O’Connor; first senior). Jun: Lee (A Lynch).

Youth Regatta (Selected)

Men

Sculling, Quadruple, Junior 16, coxed: St Michael’s. Single, Jun 16: Kenmare (Kelly)

Women

Sculling, Quadruple, Junior 16, coxed: St Michael’s. Single, Jun 16: Lee Valley (Davis)

#Rowing: Ireland’s lightweight quadruple of Fintan McCarthy, Ryan Ballantine, Jake McCarthy and Andrew Goff took fifth in the A Final of the World Championships today. Germany raced well, winning a contest with Italy, who took second. Turkey, Ireland and Denmark fought it out for the bronze. The Turks took the honours, while Denmark’s fast finish pushed Ireland back to fifth in the world.

Men

Lightweight Quadruple – A Final: 1 Germany 5:51.21, 2 Italy 5:52.85, 3 Turkey 5:53.95; 5 Ireland (F McCarthy, R Ballantine, J McCarthy, A Goff) 5:56.64.

Double – Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): Britain 6:06.59, 2 New Zealand 6:08.00, 3 Romania 6:08.17; 5 Ireland (P Doyle, R Byrne) 6:10.95.

Women

Eight – Repechage (First Four to A Final): 4 Britain (8 R Shorten) 6:04.63.

Single Sculls – A/B Semi-Final (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:23.01, 2 Denmark (F-U Erichsen) 7:30.73, 3 Germany (A Thiele) 7:32.74.

#Rowing: Ireland’s lightweight quadruple of Fintan McCarthy, Ryan Ballantine, Jake McCarthy and Andrew Goff secured an A Final place at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, this morning. They took the second and final qualification place in their repechage. Turkey and Ireland showed they meant business right through the race, with only Algeria and then Norway showing signs of being able to upset this leading order. Turkey were excellent in the second half of the race, moving over a length clear of Ireland, who were content to find their way to the final.

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

Lightweight Quadruple Sculls – Repechage One (First Two to A Final): 1 Turkey 5:51.12, 2 Ireland (F McCarthy, R Ballantine, J McCarthy, A Goff) 5:54.09

#Rowing: Ireland’s Fintan and Jake McCarthy finished fifth in their A Final of the lightweight double sculls at the World Under-23 Championships in Poznan, Poland, today. Spain took over from Germany to lead in the middle stages of the race and they saw off an Italian challenge late in the race. Italy slotted into second, and a race developed between Germany, Chile and Ireland for the bronze medal. Ireland could not crack it, and Germany took third, with Chile fourth.

World Under-23 Championships, Poznan, Poland (Irish interest):

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 Spain 6:16.29, 2 Italy 6:16.66, 3 Germany 6:17.87; 5 Ireland (F McCarthy, J McCarthy) 6:20.42.