#Rowing: The Afloat Rower of the Year 2018 is Sanita Puspure. The Old Collegians competitor proved herself the best single sculler in the world. She took silver at the World Cup regattas in Belgrade and Lucerne, running the defending champion, Jeannine Gmelin of Switzerland, extremely close (.23 of a second) in the Lucerne final.

Working with coach Dave McKenzie McGowan and high performance director Antonio Maurogiovanni, who set a very heavy training schedule, Puspure decided to miss the European Championships so that she could concentrate on the World Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria in September. She won her heat and semi-final, and then overcame bobbly conditions in the final. She established a clearwater lead. Gmelin came back at her in the third quarter; Puspure was not for catching. She won by two lengths of clear water.

Sanita Puspure (centre) smiles after being presented with her gold medal at the World Championships. Jeannine Gmelin (silver) is on the left and Magdalena Lobnig (bronze) on the right. Photo: Liam Gorman

Sanita with Daniella and Patrick, her children, after winning World Championship gold. Photo: Liam Gorman

The win was a twin highlight at the end of a wonderful year. The O’Donovan brothers, Gary and Paul, won the lightweight double sculls gold in Plovdiv, making history as the first Ireland crew to take World Championship gold in an Olympic boat. They overcame terrible conditions and a poor lane draw to win in the quarter-final. This was succeeded by a semi-final in which they looked tired and could only take third. The final saw them in the unfavoured lane six for the final.

Ireland gold medalists Gary and Paul O'Donovan on the World Championship podium in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, with Italy (silver) and Belgium (bronze)

In a stirring race, the Skibbereen men saw off Italy. They would describe it as the best race they had ever rowed. They were outstanding in their steadiness, and over the second, third and fourth quarters they were the fastest crew. They took over the lead from Italy between 1200 and 1500 metres and rebuffed the charge by the men in blue to win by three-quarters of a length.

 In a first for a women’s sweep crew from this island in an Olympic boat, Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty, the Ireland women’s pair, also reached an A Final at the World Championships. The World Under-23 Championships were also laden with success, with four A Finalists, gold for Shane Mulvaney and David O’Malley in the lightweight pair and silver for Miles Taylor, Niall Beggan, Ryan Ballantine and Andrew Goff in the lightweight quadruple.

 Come the Fisa World Rowing Awards, Dominic Casey was honoured as the coach of the year.  

 In a season of success, Sanita Puspure is the Afloat Rower of the Year.

Afloat 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 appeared on afloat.ie.

#Rowing: Dominic Casey has been chosen as the World Rowing Coach of the Year. The Skibbereen man, who coached Paul and Gary O’Donovan to a World Championship gold medal this year, received the award at a gala in Berlin. He had also been nominated in 2016 and 2017. In these years he oversaw the first Olympic medal for Ireland rowing, when the O’Donovan brothers took silver in Rio de Janeiro, and a string of gold medals for Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll in the lightweight pair. In 2017, lightweight single sculler Denise Walsh also took silver in the European Championships and a World Cup silver.

  Other awards on a glittering night went to the Australian men’s four, who were named the male crew of the year ahead of Paul and Gary O’Donovan, and the Poland quadruple, who took the women’s crew of the year, an award for which Sanita Puspure was nominated.

 The 2018 World Rowing Para Crew of the Year is the Dutch PR2 mixed double of Annika van der Meer and Corne de Koning. The Sri Lankan oarsman and university student, Amidu Silva, won the 2018 Filippi Spirit Award.

 The World Rowing Sustainability Award was taken by Alan Robinson and Schuylkill Navy for Love Where you Row.

 The 2018 Distinguished Service to International Rowing award was won by Borge Kaas Andersen of  Denmark.

#Rowing: Ireland’s gold medallists at the World Championships, Paul and Gary O’Donovan and Sanita Puspure, are the Afloat Rowers of the Month for September.

 The whole Ireland team performed with merit at the regatta in Plovdiv in Bulgaria and there were a number of outstanding placings. The men’s lightweight quadruple reached their A Final, while Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne finished ninth overall in the men’s double sculls.

Gary and Paul on the podium in Plovdiv with Italy and Belgium Photo: Liam Gorman

 The women’s pair of Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty swept into the A Final, one of the real shocks of the Championships. They took sixth.

 The O’Donovan brothers had to battle through a terrible lane draw on the Wednesday to reach Thursday’s semi-final. It left them tired and they made it through to the final by taking the third qualification place in the semi-final with just 1.52 seconds to spare over Poland. Come the final it was a step up; a step into history. They made light of their outside lane with a sweet and powerful row they deemed their best ever as a lightweight double. Italy could not live with it and Ireland had won their first ever gold medal in an Olympic event at a World Championships.

Sanita Puspure on the podium in Plovdiv Photo: Liam Gorman

 The women’s single sculls has been a fascinating event for years. Australia’s Kim Crow (now Brennan) was the star who shone all the way to a golden show in Rio in 2016; latterly Switzerland’s Jeannine Gmelin has been a winner. And now the time had come for Ireland’s Sanita Puspure. She won the heat and the semi-finals with elan, as if impatient to take on and beat Gmelin. She did this despite having to deal with choppy conditions in the final and she clipped a buoy. However, Puspure was never headed from early on, and she won with over two lengths to spare. For seven minutes and 20.12 seconds she was, indeed, dominant.

 Congratulations to all the Ireland teams this season and to the Afloat Rowers of the Month, Sanita Puspure and Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan.   

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. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2018 champions list grow.

#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: Sanita Puspure won Ireland’s second gold medal at the World Rowing Champinships at Plovdiv in Bulgaria today. She grabbed the lead in the single sculls final right from the start and never let it go. Defending champion Jeannine Gmelin moved to catch her in the third quarter, but the Ireland sculler stayed strong and extended her lead. She tired a little in the final quarter – and grew her advantage even more. She was clear by over two lengths at the finish.

World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Day Eight (Irish interest):

Men

Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Netherlands 6:05.10, 2 Poland 6:05.10, 3 Ireland (P Doyle, R Byrne) 6:08.81.

Women

Double Sculls – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Ireland (M Dukarska, A Crowley) 6:54.55, 2 Chile 6:57.29, 3 Italy 6:58.17.

Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:20.12, 2 Switzerland (J Gmelin) 7:25.93, 3 Austria (M Lobnig) 7:29.51.

#Rowing: Sanita Puspure won her semi-final and progressed confidently to the A Final of the single sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. While Fie-Udby Erichsen of Denmark staged an early challenge and led, Puspure swept through her as they approached the 1,000 metres. She then powered away and won with two lengths of clear water to spare.

Carling Zeeman was a good tip to join the two in the A Final, but caught a crab which momentarily stopped her boat. Annekatrin Thiele took the third and final qualifying spot.

Jeannine Gmelin of Switzerland won the second semi-final from Kara Kohler of the United States, with Magdalena Lobnig of Austria just squeezing out Madeleine Edmunds of Australia for the third A Final spot. Gmelin’s time was just .92 of a second off Pupure’s.

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

Men

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: Sanita Puspure punched in an outstanding performance as she won her heat of the single sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria. The Ireland sculler led off the start and gave her opponents no chance to challenge her for the one semi-final qualfication place on offer. She had a clearwater lead by 500 metres and eventually won by over 14 seconds from Fie-Udby Erichsen of Denmark.

 Monika Dukarska and Aileen Crowley looked good in the early stages of their heat of the women’s double sculls, but the race got away from them in the second 1,000 metres and they finished sixth. Canada and Germany were clear leaders through the middle of the race and looked set to take the two qualification spots for the semi-finals. The Netherlands pushed up in the final third of the race and took out Germany, who dropped back to fourth.

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

Men

Lightweight Quadruple Sculls – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Italy 5:48.03; 3 Ireland (F McCarthy, R Ballantine, J McCarthy, A Goff) 5:53.43.

Women

Double Sculls – Heat One (First Two to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada 6:54.02, 2 Netherlands 6:55.57; 6 Ireland (M Dukarska, A Crowley) 7:08.79.

Single Sculls – Heat One (Winner to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:25.78; 2 Denmark 7:39.93.  

#Rowing: Seven Ireland crews have been chosen for the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from September 9^th to 16^th. There are four women’s crews, headed by Sanita Puspure in a single scull. Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty will compete in a pair and Monika Dukarska and Aileen Crowley in a double. The lightweight double of Aoife Casey and Denise Walsh, which competed at the European Championships, go forward.

 European silver medallists Paul and Gary O’Donovan will compete in Bulgaria, while there is a heavyweight double of Ronan Byrne and Philip Doyle, which will be competing together at this level for the first time. The heavyweight pair of Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll which finished 11^th at the European Championships will compete in Plovdiv.

 Another crew may be added to the team this week.

Ireland Team for World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, September 9^th to 16^th:

Men

Pair: M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll

Double Sculls: Ronan Byrne, Philip Doyle

Lightweight Double Sculls: Gary O’Donovan, Paul O’Donovan

Women

Pair: Aifric Keogh, Emily Hegarty

Double Sculls: Monika Dukarska, Aileen Crowley

Lightweight Double Sculls: Aoife Casey, Denise Walsh

Single Sculls: Sanita Puspure

Other crews may be added

#Rowing: Sanita Puspure took a silver medal for Ireland at the World Cup Regatta in Lucerne. The world champion, Jeannine Gmelin of Switzerland took gold, but only just, in a thrilling finish. Puspure was under pressure for second from Carling Zeeman of Canada, but the Ireland sculler has a great finish and pushed right up on Gmelin, finishing just .23 of a second behind her.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Day Three (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Pair – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Spain Two 6:40.42; 3 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:43.27.

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:28.50, 2 Belgium 6:29.30, 3 Denmark 6:32.39.

Women

Pair – B Final: 1 Spain 7:25.23; 4 Ireland (A Keogh, T Hanlon) 7:32.46.

Double – B Final: 1 Czech Republic 7:05.30; 3 Ireland (M Dukarska, A Crowley) 7:06.92.

Single – A Final: 1 Switzerland (J Gmelin) 7:35.94, Ireland (S Puspure) 7:36.17, 3 Canada (C Zeeman) 7:37.03

#Rowing: Sanita Puspure won her semi-final of the single sculls at the World Cup Regatta in Lucerne with a dominant performance. Annekatrin Thiele of Germany disputed the lead in the first quarter, but Puspure led by the 1,000 metre mark and was clear by over four seconds at the finish. Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig pushed past Thiele to take second.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Day Two (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Pair – A/B Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Serbia 6:33.87, 2 Spain 6:36.65, 3 Britain One 6:38.90; 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:42.02.

D Final (Places 19 to 24): 1 Poland 6:40.95; 5 Ireland (P Boomer, A Harrington) 6:53.83.

Single Sculls – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Australia 6:58.52, 2 Argentina 6:59.65, 3 Ireland (P Doyle) 7:00.39.

Women

Pair - Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Australia 7:18.62, 2 China One 7:19.86; 4 Ireland (A Keogh, T Hanlon) 7:29.63.

Double – Semi-Final (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 New Zealand 6:53.91, 2 Canada 6:57.71, 3 Netherlands 6:58.57; 4 Ireland (A Crowley, M Dukarska) 7:06.42.

Single Sculls – Semi-Final (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:39.59, 2 Austria (M Lobnig) 7:43.68, 3 Germany (A Thiele) 7:45.59.