#Rowing: Ireland’s men’s and women’s lightweight double sculls qualified for A Finals at the European Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland this morning. The O’Donovan brothers, Paul and Gary, raced very well, putting themselves into contention for a crucial third place in the middle of the race, and then securing it with a good closing 500 metres. Britain’s William Fletcher and Richard Chambers won well. Claire Lambe and Denise Walsh had to come through an exciting finish to secure third. Poland won, with Denmark, Ireland and Russia taking the second to fourth placings. Ireland were just .17 of a second ahead of Russia on the line.

The Ireland women’s pair of Monika Dukarska and Leonora Kennedy finished fifth in their semi-final, and Sinéad Jennings fourth in the semi-final of the lightweight women’s single sculls.

European Rowing Championships, Poznan, Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – A/B Semi-Final One (Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Britain (R Chambers, W Fletcher) 6:16.83, 2 Norway 6:21.02, 3 Ireland (P O’Donovan, G O’Donovan) 6:22.89; 4 Czech Republic 6:27.58, 5 Austria 6:31.75, 6 Greece 6:41.41.

Women

Pair – A/B Semi-Final One (Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Netherlands 7:05.80, 2 Romania 7:09.40,3 France 7:13.10; 4 Czech Republic 7:14.97, 5 Ireland (L Kennedy, M Dukarska) 7:30.00, 6 Germany 7:34.45.

Lightweight Double Sculls – A/B Semi-Final One (Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Poland 6:58.39, 2 Denmark 7:02.24, 3 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:02.82; 4 Russia 7:02.99, 5 Romania 7:03.82, 6 Czech Republic 7:17.73.

Lightweight Single Sculls – A/B Semi-Final One (Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Russia 7:42.99, 2 Lithuania 7:44.09, 3 Britain 7:44.62; 4 Ireland (S Jennings) 7:45.99, 5 Austria 7:58.39, 6 Latvia 8:02.81.

#ROWING: Ireland’s lightweight double scull of Claire Lambe and Denise Walsh came second to Russia in their C Final at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam this morning. The Russian crew of Diana Stepochkina and Olga Arkadova led all the way down the course, with Ireland snapping at their heels. But the Irish fell short by just under a boat length. The result places Lambe and Walsh 14th overall in this Olympic-class event.

World Rowing Championships, Amsterdam, Day Six (Irish interest, selected results)

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Russia (D Stepochkina, O Arkadova) 6:58.21, 2 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:00.11, 3 Denmark 7:03.49, 4 Switzerland 7:03.51, 5 Belarus 7:09.08, 6 Greece 7:14.20.

#ROWING: Ireland’s lightweight double scull of Claire Lambe and Denise Walsh finished second in a remarkably close C/D Semi-Final of the World Rowing Championships this morning in Amsterdam, and thus qualified for the C Final. Russia held the lead for most of the race, but Denmark and Ireland pulled level with them in the closing stages and the fourth combatant, Argentina, closed up on these three. Denmark won, from Ireland and Russia, with all three boats covered by .67 of a second; Argentina were .59 of a second behind Russia, but go to the D Final.

World Rowing Championships, Day Five (Irish interest; selected results)

Women

Pair – Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 United States (M Kalmoe, K Simmonds) 7:16.35, 2 New Zealand (L Trappitt, R Scown) 7:22.12, 3 Australia (C Sutherland, L Stephan) 7:30.02; 4 Serbia 7:34.92, 5 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:35.18, 6 Czech Republic 7:45.68.

Lightweight Double Sculls - C/D Semi-Final (First Three to C Final; rest to D Final): 1 Denmark 7:25.98, 2 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:26.35, 3 Russia 7:26.65; 4 Argentina 7:27.24.

#ROWING: Claire Lambe and Denise Walsh finished third in their heat of the lightweight double sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today. Just one crew qualified directly for the semi-finals and Lambe and Walsh were competitive and did not let early leaders Germany break away from them. However, Australia finished faster than both and won the race.

World Rowing Championships, Amsterdam (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men
Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Two (First Four Directly to Quarter-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Portugal (P Fraga) 6:53.62, Australia (P Ward) 6:54.96, 3 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 6:57.65,

4 China (Jingbin Zhao) 7:03.13; 5 Slovakia 7:04.81, 6 Quatar 9:52.93.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (First Three Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Britain (H Glover, H Stanning) 7:04.64, 2 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:15.29, 3 Canada (J Martins, K Bauder) 7:04.64; 4 Serbia 7:21.06, 5 Russia 7:24.48.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat One (Winner to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Australia (A McNamara, E Flecker) 6:57.15; 2 Germany 7:00.24, 3 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:01.23, 4 Russia 7:02.71, 5 Denmark 7:07.89.

#ROWING: Ireland’s Denise Walsh had an unfortunate end to her campaign in the World Under-23 Rowing Championships in Varese, Italy this morning. The Skibbereen woman ended up in the water at about 700 metres after a capsize in the repechage of the lightweight single sculls. Walsh was pushing for a top-two place, which would have put her in the semi-finals. New Zealand and Germany took these spots.

#ROWING: Denise Walsh of Ireland finished fourth in her heat of the lightweight single sculls at the World Under-23 Championships in Varese, Italy, this morning. The two direct qualification places were taken by Anna Ioannou of Cyprus and Julie Marechal of France, whose battle at the head of the race drew them away from the rest of the contenders. Britain’s Emily Craig was third, while Walsh and Anastasia Lebedeva of Russia fought it out at the back of the field to avoid last. The Skibbereen woman prevailed.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Varese, Italy, Day Two (Irish interest; selected results)

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Three (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; Rest to Repechage): 1 Cyprus 8:04.62, 2 France 8:06.67; 3 Britain 8:13.89, 4 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:22.48, 5 Russia 8:26.00.

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan won the B Final of the lightweight single sculls at the World Cup Regatta in Aiguebelette in France this morning. The UCD man was fourth at 500 metres but headed the field in the final quarter and moved clear to win well and secure seventh overall.

The women’s pair of Leonora Kennedy and Lisa Dilleen finished third in their B Final, ninth overall. New Zealand’s Louise Trappitt and Rebecca Scown – who won the A Final at the first World Cup in Sydney – were impressive winners of this race, while Ireland and Canada battled for second, well ahead of Germany One, Britain Two and France.

The Ireland lightweight women’s double scull of Claire Lambe and Denise Walsh finished their first regatta together as a crew fifth in the B Final, 11th overall. China Two won from the United States, Australia and Denmark while behind them Ireland outpaced Brazil all the way down the course.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day Three (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:07.46, 2 Azerbaijan (J Afandiyev) 7:08.23, 3 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:10.55, 4 France 7:13.96, 5 Algeria 7:17.64, 6 Switzerland 7:19.68.

Women

Pair – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 New Zealand (L Trappitt, R Scown) 7:10.55, 2 Canada (N Mastracci, S Grainger) 7:15.16, 3 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:16.53, 4 Germany 7:24.64, 5 Britain 7:26.55, 6 France 7:27.64.

Lightweight Double Scull – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 China Two (Huan Zhang, Le Chen) 7:11.20, 2 United States (D Karz, M Sechser) 7:12.17, 3 Australia (E Flecker, A McNamara) 7:13.42, 4 Denmark 7:14.02, 5 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:16.71, 6 Brazil 7:23.33.

,

#ROWING: Ireland’s Lisa Dilleen and Leonora Kennedy finished fifth in the pairs’ semi-final at the World Cup Regatta in Aiguebelette today. Three United States crews drawn from their eight took the qualification spots with Canada – also a crew drawn from the country’s eight – fourth. Dilleen and Kennedy tried to break into the dominant leading group but could not.

The lightweight women’s double of Claire Lambe and Denise Walsh stuck gamely to their task in their semi-final, but finished sixth. China One, Sweden and Britain’s Kat Copeland and Imogen Walsh collared the three qualification spots, with Copeland and Walsh judging their finish well to win.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day Two (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Single Sculls – D Final (Places 19 to 23): 1 Bulgaria 7:14.01, 2 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:16.48, 3 China 7:19.41.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Germany Two (J Schoemann-Finck) 7:00.71, 2 Bulgaria (V Nedelcho) 7:03.69, 3 France (D Piqueras) 7:04.23; 4 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:06.99, 5 Switzerland One 7:14.8, 6 Algeria 7:21.36. C Final (places 13 to 18): 1 Ireland Two (M O’Donovan) 7:17.11, 2 Tunisia One 7:17.40, 3 Switzerland Two 7:19.58.

Women

Pair – A/B Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final):

1 United States Three (V Opitz, M Musnicki) 7:02.27, 2 United States One (M Kalmoe, K Simmonds) 7:02.33, 3 United States Four (A Polk, L Schmetterling) 7:04.23; 4 Canada 7:07.94, 5 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:16.80, 6 France 7:32.46.

Double Sculls – C Final (Places 13, 14): 1 France 7:12.84, 2 Ireland (M Dukarska, E Moran) 7:20.78.

Lightweight Double Sculls – A/B Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Britain (I Walsh, K Copeland) 7:05.84, 2 China One (Tianyu Teng, Wenyi Huang) 7:07.25, 3 Sweden (C Lilja, E Fredh) 7:08.90; 4 Australia 7:13.07, 5 China Two 7:13.17, 6 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:14.79.

#ROWING: Claire Lambe and Denise Walsh produced a gutsy drive to the line to secure another semi-final place for Ireland at the World Cup in Aiguebelette in France today. Two crews would qualify from the lightweight double repechage, and Poland and Brazil looked set to take those places in the closing stages. Lambe and Walsh clung on to third and then overtook Poland to qualify behind Brazil.

Mark O’Donovan finished fourth in the repechage of the lightweight single sculls and is set to compete in the C Final for places 13 to 18.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day One (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Single Sculls – Heat One (Time Trial; First Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage); 1 Cuba (A Fournier Rodriguez) 6:48.06; 2 Canada 6:55.45, 3 Finland 6:59.39, 4 United States 7:06.59, 5 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:12.69, 6 Hungary 7:17.37.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heats (Time Trials; First Two Directly Through to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 China (Tiexin Wang) 7:02.36, 2 France (D Piqueras) 7:07.64; 5 Ireland Two (M O’Donovan) 7:20.78

Heat Three: 1 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:11.34, 2 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:15.60.

Repechage One (First Two to A/B Semis; 3-5 to C Final): 4 Ireland Two (O’Donovan) 7:37.56.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada (N Mastracci, S Grainger) 7:13.29, 2 United States Two (G Luczak, C Lind) 7:13.87, 3 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:18.15; 4 Germany Two 7:32.77, 5 China Two 7:37.06.

Double Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Three Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Belarus (E Karsten, Y Bichyk) 6:51.94, 2 Britain (F Houghton, V Thornley) 6:54.71, 3 China (Yuwei Wang, Weiwei Zhu) 6:57.09; 4 France 7:07.40, 5 Ireland (M Dukarska, E Moran) 7:12.42.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Britain One (I Walsh, K Copeland) 7:02.44, 2 United States (D Karz, M Sechser) 7:07.21; 3 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 5:21.89, 4 Mexico Two 7:20.55, 5 Belarus 7:20.95. Repechage (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; 3-5 to C Final): 1 Brazil (B Cardoso, F Beltrame) 7:24.44, 2 Ireland (Lambe, Walsh) 7:25.65; 3 Poland 7:27.13, 4 Belarus 7:33.59, 5 Czech Republic 7:37.94, 6 Mexico One 7:46.68.

Single Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Two directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 China (Jingli Duan) 7:30.54, 2 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:34.63; 3 Switzerland 7:35.99, 4 France 7:37.79, 5 Zimbabwe 7:41.57, 6 Croatia 7:42.46.

Pararowing – Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Sculls – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (T Kelly)

#ROWING: The new Ireland lightweight double scull of Claire Lambe and Denise Walsh missed out by one place on qualifying directly for the A/B semi-finals at the World Cup Regatta at Aiguebelette in France. The first two crews from the heat, which was run on a time trial basis, qualified. Britain’s Imogen Walsh and Kat Copeland, who went off first and set a very fast pace, won. The United States held Ireland out of second by .84 of a second. Ireland will have a second chance in a repechage.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day One (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heats (Time Trials; First Two Directly Through to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 China (Tiexin Wang) 7:02.36, 2 France (D Piqueras) 7:07.64; 5 Ireland Two (M O’Donovan) 7:20.78

Heat Three: 1 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:11.34, 2 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:15.60.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada (N Mastracci, S Grainger) 7:13.29, 2 United States Two (G Luczak, C Lind) 7:13.87, 3 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:18.15; 4 Germany Two 7:32.77, 5 China Two 7:37.06.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Britain One (I Walsh, K Copeland) 7:02.44, 2 United States (D Karz, M Sechser) 7:07.21; 3 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 5:21.89, 4 Mexico Two 7:20.55, 5 Belarus 7:20.95

Pararowing – Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Sculls – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (T Kelly)