#Rowing: Denise Walsh finished sixth in the A Final of the lightweight single sculls here at Poznan, Poland. Joanna Dorociak of Poland, surprisingly, led for most of the race, but it was Jackie Kiddle of New Zealand who came through and won in an exciting finish. Patricia Merz of Switzerland was third, just over half a second ahead of European champion Emma Fredh of Sweden.

Walsh was fell off the pace by halfway and could not make it up in a fast World Cup final.

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

Women

­Pair – Repechage (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): Australia 7:15.41, 2 New Zealand 7:16.26, 3 Chile 7:17.86, 4 Britain 7:22.94; 5 United States Two 7:28.76, 6 Ireland (A Keogh, A Crowley) 7:35.93.

Single Sculls – Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final)

Semi-Final One: 1 Austria (M Lobnig) 7:29.08, 2 China (J Duan) 7:31.25, 3 New Zealand (H Osborne) 7:32.80; 4 Ireland One (S Puspure) 7:35.99, 5 Austria Two 7:42.16, 6 Germany Two 7:49.93.

Semi-Final Two: 1 Britain (V Thornley) 7:29.58, 2 Germany (A Thiele) 7:33.43, 3 Ukraine (D Dymchenko) 7:35.50; 4 Ireland Two (M Dukarska) 7:37.19, 5 United States One 7:38.05, 6 United States Two 7:42.84.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Semi-Finals (Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 New Zealand 7:44.06, 2 Poland 7:45.45, 3 Switzerland 7:48.27.

Semi-Final Two: 1 Sweden (E Fredh) 7:40.68, 2 United States (M Jones) 7:41.38, 3 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:42.79; 4 Russia 7:44.47, 5 Netherlands 7:51.60, 6 Austria 7:58.54.

A Final: 1 New Zealand 7:36.89, 2 Poland 7:37.19, 3 Switzerland 7:37.20; 4 Sweden 7:37.75, 5 United States 7:43.07, 6 Ireland (Walsh) 7:48.91.

#Rowing: Denise Walsh qualifed for the A Final of the lightweight single sculls by finishing third in her semi-final at the World Cup Regatta in Poznan, Poland, today. Emma Fredh and Walsh battled with Mary Jones of the United States for the crucial top-three spots. Jones took over in second to Fredh at 1500 metres, with Walsh holding off Russia’s Anastasia Lebedeva for third. Walsh sprinted from there, but so did Jones, who took second.

Aifric Keogh and Aileen Crowley finished sixth in the pairs repechage, off the pace in a fast race. They will go to the B Final.

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

Women

­Pair – Repechage (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): Australia 7:15.41, 2 New Zealand 7:16.26, 3 Chile 7:17.86, 4 Britain 7:22.94; 5 United States Two 7:28.76, 6 Ireland (A Keogh, A Crowley) 7:35.93.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Semi-Finals (Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 New Zealand 7:44.06, 2 Poland 7:45.45, 3 Switzerland 7:48.27.

Semi-Final Two: 1 Sweden (E Fredh) 7:40.68, 2 United States (M Jones) 7:41.38, 3 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:42.79; 4 Russia 7:44.47, 5 Netherlands 7:51.60, 6 Austria 7:58.54.

#Rowing: Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll won their test race of the lightweight pair at the World Cup Regatta in Poznan, Poland this morning. Britain tested them through three-quarters of the race, but held off when it was clear they would again have to give way to the men in green.

Sanita Puspure and Monika Dukarska finished third and fourth in their heat and missed out on direct qualification in the heats of the women’s single sculls. New Zealand’s Hannah Osborne won a battle with Puspure to take second behind the dominant Vicky Thornley of Britain.

The Ireland pair of Aifric Keogh and Aileen Crowley took fourth in their heat.

#Rowing: Denise Walsh took a fine second place in her heat of the lightweight single sculls to qualify directly for the semi-finals of the World Cup Regatta in Poznan, Poland, today. Patricia Merz of Switzerland won, while the Skibbereen woman held off a challenge by Joanna Dorociak of Poland, who will compete in a repechage.

 The heat was the fastest of three in tailwind conditions. Emma Fredh of Sweden and newcomer Jackie Kiddle of New Zealand won the other heats.

World Cup Regatta, Poznan, Poland, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls Heats (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages – Heat One: 1 New Zealand (J Kiddle) 7:30.91, 2 Russia (A Lebedeva) 7:31.79. Heat Two: 1 Sweden One (E Fredh) 7:33.26, 2 Germany (L Pieper) 7:41.81. Heat Three: 1 Switzerland (P Merz) 7:29.28, 2 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:32.72; 3 Poland One 7:36.38.

#Rowing: The 2017 World Cup series heads to Poznan, Poland for the second of three regattas in 2017. Almost 500 athletes will compete from 39 countries with several countries, including Australia, China and New Zealand, arriving on the international scene for the first time this season. The event will be staged from 16th-18th June 2017 on Lake Malta, near the city centre of Poznan.

The Olympic gold and silver medallists from the lightweight men’s double sculls are back racing each other again. France’s Jeremie Azou and Pierre Houin and the O’Donovan brothers from Ireland met last month at the European Rowing Championships with the Olympic order staying the same. Both of these talented crews will race strong opposition from Poland and Great Britain.

The Irish team in full to compete at the event is as follows:

Lightweight men’s double sculls: Gary O’Donovan (Skibbereen Rowing Club), Paul O’Donovan (UCD Boat Club)

Lightweight men’s pair: Mark O’Donovan (Skibbereen Rowing Club), Shane O’Driscoll (Skibbereen Rowing Club)

Women’s single sculls: Sanita Puspure (Old Collegians Boat Club) and also Monika Dukarska (Killorglin Rowing Club)

Lightweight women’s single sculls: Denise Walsh (Skibbereen RC)

Women’s pair: Aileen Crowley (UCD BC), Aifric Keogh (UCC RC)

Ireland will also be sending three para-athletes to Poznan, for classification only, with the view to building a Team for the 2018 season; Marianne Watchorn (Trinity), Aaron Stokes (Castleconnell) and Damien Dulea from Quintin RC in London, originally from Cork. Poznan will be the first World Rowing event where Para-Rowing is raced on the same “field of play” at 2’000 metres following the decision taken at the FISA Extraordinary Congress last February in Tokyo.

Racing begins on Friday 16th June with heats for the para-rowing boat classes. Racing then moves on to World Cup and International boat classes, progressing through repechages, semifinals and on to the finals. The first finals will be raced on Saturday afternoon 17th June starting with the para-rowing finals, followed by International boat class finals. World Cup finals will take place on Sunday 18th June.

#Rowing: Monika Dukarska took a bronze medal for Ireland at the World University Rowing Championships in Poland today. The Ireland single sculler took a third place behind Germany’s Julia Leiding and Lisa Farthofer of Austria, who just beat her in the battle for silver. The Killorglin woman had been in the Ireland high performance programme until earlier this year.

World University Rowing Championships, Poznan, Poland (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Double - B Final: 3 Ireland (P Doyle, T Oliver) 6:42.56.

Lightweight Single - B Final: 6 Ireland (C Beck) 7:36.15.  

Women

Four - B Final: 2 Ireland (A Feeley, A Crowley, S Bennett, E Lambe) 7:14.68.

Double Sculls - B Final: 3 Ireland (O Bouanane, O Blundell) 7:44.83.

Lightweight Double Sculls: 3 Ireland (D Synott, J McCarthy) 6:49.87.

Single Sculls - A Final: 1 Germany (J Leiding) 7:33.73, 2 Austria (L Farthofer) 7:35.35, 3 Ireland (M Dukarska) 7:35.99.

#Rowing: Monika Dukarska qualified for the A Final of the women’s single sculls at the World University Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland. The Killorglin woman finished a clear second in her repechage, with two going through to the A Final. There were B Final places for five other Irish crews: the men’s double sculls and lightweight double sculls and lightweight single sculler Chris Beck and for the women’s four and women’s double. Andrew Goff was set for the C Final in the men’s single.

#Rowing: The Ireland junior women’s quadruple won their heat to take their place in the A Final of the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Poznan, Poland, this morning. The crew of Lucy Taylor, Fiona Chestnutt, Hannah Scott and Margaret Cremen had over a second to spare over second-placed Italy. The junior women’s pair of Tara Hanlon and Amy Mason also had an encouraging second place in their heat.

 The junior men’s four are bound for the B Final. They held a clear third at 1500 metres but France passed them and took the final qualification place. The junior men’s quadruple finished fifth in their heat.

Coupe de la Jeunesse, Poznan, Poland (Irish interest; selected results)

Day Two

Men

Junior Four  - Heat One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 4 Ireland 6:51.55.

Junior Quadruple: Heat Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 5 Ireland 6:38.47.

Women

Junior Quadruple (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland 7:07.21.

Junior Pair (First Three to A Final): 1 Britain 8:03.61, 2 Ireland 8:07.85.

# Rowing: Two Ireland crews qualified for A Finals at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Poznan, Poland, this morning. The junior women’s quadruple of Lucy Taylor, Hannah Scott, Fiona Chestnutt and Margaret Cremen finished second in their heat, and the junior women’s pair of Amy Mason and Tara Hanlon matched them.

 The junior men’s four and quadruple are set to compete in B Finals this afternoon. In their heats, the four finished fourth and the quad fifth.

Coupe de la Jeunesse, Poznan, Poland – (Irish interest; selected results)

Day One

Men

Four – Heat One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 4 Ireland (A Johnston, S Armstrong, R Corrigan, P Kennelly): 6:34.59.

Quadruple – Heat Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 5 Ireland (N Beggan, B O’Flynn, B Connolly, S O’Sullivan) 6:35.70.

Women

Pair – Heat Two – 2 Ireland (A Mason, T Hanlon)

Quadruple – Heat Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Britain 6:49.66, 2 Ireland (L Taylor, F Chestnutt, H Scott, M Cremen) 6:54.22.

#Rowing: Claire Lambe and Sinead Lynch had to settle for fourth in a terrific lightweight double sculls World Cup Final in Poznan. The Netherlands had an excellent start, but Denmark set the pace through the middle stages, with Ireland and world champions New Zealand well in touch. The Kiwis pushed right up by the final 300 metres, and it became a three-boat race, with Ireland just behind.  The Netherlands won in a new world best time, with Denmark and New Zealand taking silver and bronze.

World Cup Regatta, Poznan (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls - A Final: 1 France (P Houin, J Azou) 6:11.92, 2 Norway (K Brun, A Strandli) 6:14.01, 3 Italy (A Micheletti, M Miani) 6:14.67; 4 Ireland (G O'Donovan, P O'Donovan) 6:15.46, 5 Britain (W Fletcher, R Chambers) 6:20.71, 6 Austria 6:26.06.

Women

Lightweight Double Sculs - A Final: 1 Netherlands (I Paul, M Head) 6:47.69 (World Best Time), 2 Denmark (AL Thomsen, J Rasmussen) 6:49.10, 3 New Zealand (S MacKenzie, J Edward) 6:50.65; 4 Ireland (C Lambe, S Lynch) 6:55.22, 5 Poland 6:55.85, 6 Italy 6:56.92.