#Rowing: The Ireland women’s pair of Emily Hegarty and Tara Hanlon finished sixth in the semi-final at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships at Poznan, Poland. The race ran away from Ireland.  Chile and then the United States, who would win, battled it out ahead of them, with Greece finishing brilliantly to take the third qualification spot for the A Final. Ireland lagged in sixth throughout and will compete in the B Final.

 Hugh Sutton gave a gutsy performance in the C/D semi-final of the lightweight single sculls. He held third until the final 50 metres when he was passed by Marlon Colpaert of Belgium, who had just over half a second over him on the line. The Belgian take a C Final place and Sutton is set for the D Final.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Poznan, Poland

Men

Single Sculls – Quarter-Final (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Ireland (R Byrne) 7:20.26.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Quarter-Final (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 5 Ireland (H Sutton) 7:55.8. C/D Semi-Final Two: 4 Sutton 7:42.69.  

Women

Pair – Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 2 Britain (2 H Scott) 7:52.09. Semi-Final Two: 6 Ireland (E Hegarty, T Hanlon) 8:15.53.

#Rowing: Ireland qualified two more boats at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland.

 Ronan Byrne won his heat of the single sculls. The UCC man led by two seconds after 500 metres and extended his lead through the race – he won by 7.31 seconds from Germany’s Marc Weber. The top four qualified for the quarter-finals.

 The Ireland women’s pair of Emily Hegarty and Tara Hanlon took their place in the semi-finals with a solid third place in their heat. Britain – with ex-Ireland rower Hannah Scott in the stroke seat – took the race on early, but the United States had other ideas. They took over the lead and held it. Ireland won a battle with Spain for the third qualification place.    

 Earlier, the Ireland lightweight pair of David O’Malley and Shane Mulvaney had won their heat.

Under-23 World Championships, Poznan, Poland

Men

Lightweight Pair – Heat Two (Winner to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (S Mulvaney, D O’Malley) 6:50.92.

Lightweight Quadruple – Heat One (Winner to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 United States 6:00.18; 3 Ireland (M Taylor, N Beggan, R Ballantine, A Goff) 6:04.62.

Single Sculls – Heat Five (First Four to Quarter-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (R Byrne) 7:07.77

Lightweight Single Sculls (First Four to Quarter-Finals; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (H Sutton) 7:24.38.

Women

Pair – Heat Three (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 United States 7:30.57, 2 Britain (2 H Scott) 7:35.93, 3 Ireland (E Hegarty, T Hanlon) 7:46.45.  

#Rowing: Ireland will compete at the European Rowing Under-23 Championships this weekend. A team of athletes, along with coaches and management, departed for Kruszwica, Poland, earlier this week for the event which takes place on Saturday and Sunday, the 2nd and 3rd of September.

 The Ireland women’s eight will be the first crew of this category to compete for the country at a FISA World Rowing event.

 UCD’s Andrew Goff, who was part of the Ireland lightweight quadruple which took bronze at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships last month, will compete in the lightweight men’s single sculls. Goff was due to team up in a lightweight men’s double sculls with Niall Beggan, who has been forced to withdraw from racing due to illness. 

 The women’s eight crew will be made up from seven clubs from Cork, Galway and Dublin. The athletes selected are Emily Hegarty (Skibbereen RC), Sadhbh O’Connor (NUIG BC), Oisin Forde (Cork BC), Aoife Corcoran (DULBC), Caoimhe Dempsey (DULBC), Claire Feerick (Neptune RC), Nuala Landers (NUIG BC), Ruth Gilligan (UCD BC).  UCC’s Cormac O’Connell will cox the crew. Coaches John Armstrong and Paul Thornton have travelled to Poland. Denis O’Regan is the team manager.

 Kruszwica is a town in central Poland, situated at Lake Goplo. The Kruszwica regatta course is a natural rowing course. 

 The event includes over 150 entries. Heats and repechages take place on Saturday, followed by semi-finals and finals on Sunday. The draw will be made tomorrow (Friday) afternoon.

#Rowing: Ireland's Ronan Byrne and Daire Lynch finished fifth in their semi-final of the junior double sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam today. Drawn in the very tough lane one and battling against the worst of the wind, the Irish passed Lithuania and pressed the Netherlands hard, though the host nation held on to fourth. Germany, Italy and Hungary took the A Final places. Ireland will compete in a B Final.

 The junior women's double of Aoife Casey and Emily Hegarty were also in the tough lane one. They finished sixth in a race won by Greece. Ireland will fight for a good placing in the B Final on Sunday.

World Rowing Championships, Rotterdam (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Pair - A Final: 1 France 7:14.18, 2 Denmark 7:15.30, 3 Britain (J Cassells, S Scrimgeour) 7:16.49; 4 Ireland (M O'Donovan, S O'Driscoll) 7:24.6, 5 China 7:32.48, 6 United States 7:36.91.

Lightweight Single Sculls - A Final: 1 Ireland (P O'Donovan) 7:32.84, 2 Hungary (P Galambos) 7:36.95, 3 Slovakia (L Babac) 7:38.89; 4 Slovenia (R Hrvat) 7:41.07, 5 Germany (K Steinhuebel) 7:48.66, 6 Serbia (M Stanojevic) 7:49.03.

Junior Double Sculls - Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Germany 7:17.47, 2 Italy 7:18.14, 3 Hungary 7:29.93; 5 Ireland (R Byrne, D Lynch) 7:36.48.

Women

Four - A Final: 1 Britain (3 H Nixon) 7:16.28.

Junior Double Sculls - Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Greece 7:57.20, 2 Germany 7:58.97, 3 Australia 7:59.61; 6 Ireland (A Casey, E Hegarty) 8:12.31.

#Rowing: NUIG and UCC won the division one men's and women's fours by big margins in the first set of Sunday finals at Cork Regatta at the National Rowing Centre. The division one doubles provided a stage for junior crews with international aspirations. In changeable conditions, Aoife Casey and Emily Hegarty won in an excellent time and Ronan Byrne and Daire Lynch were second to senior internationals Shane O'Driscoll and Mark O'Donovan.

Cork Regatta (Coillte Grand League), National Rowing Centre, Sunday

Men

Four - Div One - A Final: 1 NUIG (senior) 6:15.798. Div Two, coxed - A Final: 1 Cork (club 2) 6:45.96; 4 Presentation (jun 18) 7:01.82. B Final: 5 Pres (jun 16) 7:45.27.

Sculling - Double - Div One - A Final: 1 Skibbereen (M O'Donovan, S O'Driscoll; sen) 6:35.19, 2 Shandon/Clonmel 6:42.47; 6 Shandon A (inter) 7:07.91. B Final: 2 Shandon (jun 18) 6:51.83. C Final: 5 Cork (club 1) 7:51.21.

Single - Div Two - A Final: 1 Skibbereen (K Mannix; jun 18) 7:30.79, 2 Carlow (J Keating; jun 16) 7:32.62; 4 Lee (H Sutton; club 2) 7:38.78.

Women

Four - Div One - A Final: 1 UCC (sen) 7:08.25; 3 Shandon (jun 18) 7:17.69.

Sculling, Double - Div One - A Final: 1 Skibbereen (E Hegarty, A Casey; jun 18) 7:13.15, 2 Bann (jun 18) 7:22.69; 5 Belfast BC (club 1) 7:34.93. B Final: 2 Commercial (inter) 7:47.37; 3 Skibbereen (sen) 7:47.68.

#Rowing: A horde of Irish records fell at the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships at the University of Limerick today. Sanita Puspure set a new time for the women’s open category of 6 minutes 36.7 seconds. The second fastest time was also a record, as 17-year-old Emily Hegarty clocked 6:57.0, lopping over two  seconds off the old junior record set by Lisa Dilleen. Claire Lambe’s time of 7 minutes 12.6 seconds was a new Irish record for a lightweight woman.

  Paul O’Donovan set an excellent time for the lightweight under-23 category – 6:07.5 – over two seconds better than his previous personal best. His brother and soon-to-be Olympic crewmate, Gary, had been the fastest in the open lightweight section, with a time of 6:14.6. The men’s junior 18 category was won by Cathal Cummins in a new Irish record of 6:16.2. Sam McKeown’s hopes of breaking six minutes in the men’s open category fell short, though his time of 6:02.9 was 1.8 seconds better than his previous best.

 Other record breakers on the day included Paul Gallen (lightweight men, 60 to 69), Niall O’Brien (open, 50-59), Priscilla O’Sullivan (women’s open, 50-59) and Catherine McKeon (pararowing, legs trunk and arms).

Irish Indoor Rowing Championships, University of Limerick, Saturday (Selected Results)

Men

Open: 1 S McKeown 6:02.9, 2 T Oliver 6:03.2, 3 P Buchanan 6:09.6, 4 P Doyle 6:10.7, 5 D Brown 6:13.0, 6 K Coughlan 6:13.1. Under-23: 1 J Casey 6:18.3, 2 D Mitchell 6:18.5, 3 P Munnelly 6:19.7. Junior 18: 1 C Cummins 6:16.2, 2 R Byrne 6:16.7, 3 D Lynch 6:18.3. Jun 16: R Tummon 6:38.2.

Lightweight – Open: 1 G O’Donovan 6:14.6, 2 M O’Donovan 6:18.0, 3 S O’Driscoll 6:18.8, 4 L Keane 6:24.8.

Under-23: 1 P O’Donovan 6:07.5, 2 S Mulvaney 6:21.8, 3 L Seaman 6:25.7

Pararowing – LTA (1,000m): S Ryan 3.30.6.

Women

Open: 1 S Puspure 6:36.7, 2 M Dukarska 6:58.9, 3 L Kennedy 7:01.9, 4 A Keogh 7:06.1, 5 S Bennett 7:13.8, 6 R Maguire 7:15.0. Under-23: 1 S Bounane 7:16.8, 2 E Lambe 7:18.6, 3 S Murphy 7:30.1. Junior 18: E Hegarty 6:57.0, 2 H Scott 7:20.7, 3 M Cremin 7:23.6. Jun 16: C Nic Dhonncha 7:35.6.

Lightweight – Open: 1 C Lambe 7:12.6, 2 Sarah Dolan 7:17.0, 3 S McCrohan 7:18.4. Under-23: E McGiff 7:41.9.

Pararowing – LTA (1,000m): C McKeon 3:37.1.

 Best Overall Club (Eddie Crean Trophy): St Joseph’s, Galway

#Rowing: Shandon had an excellent day at the Skibbereen Head of the River at the new venue of the Marina in Cork on Saturday. Their men’s senior eight were the fastest winning crew. Competing in the fourth fixed head, they clocked 10 minutes and 50 seconds. UCC’s senior eight were six seconds further back. 

The fastest women’s single sculler was the outstanding junior, Emily Hegarty of the host club.

Skibbereen Head of the River, Saturday, The Marina, Cork (Selected Results, Fixed Head):

Men – Eight, Senior: Shandon 10 mins 50 secs. Inter: UCC 11:04. Masters: Muckross 11:52. Jun 18A: Cork 11:11. Jun 16: Shandon 11:44.

Four – Four: 11:04. Inter: UCC 11:15. Inter (coxed): Cork 11:29. Jun 18, coxed: St Brendan’s 12:36. Jun 16, coxed: Pres, Cork 12:44.

Pair – Jun 18A: Pres, Cork 13:31.

Sculling, Quadruple: Skibbereen 11:03. Jun 18A: Lee 11:27. Jun 16, coxed: Cork 11:47.

Double – Sen: Skibbereen A 12:17. Inter: Skibbereen 13:11.  Jun 18A: Lee 12:31.

Single –Sen: E Rowan 12:21. Inter: F McCarthy 12:19. Club One: D Larkin 12:41. Jun 18A: K Mannix 13:01. Jun 16: B O’Flynn 12:57. Masters: H Mertz 13:08.

Women

Eight, Inter: UCC 12.17. Jun 18A: Shandon 12:38. Jun 16: Shandon 13:48.

Four – Sen: Skibbereen 13:34. Inter: UCC 13:26. Jun 18A: Skibbereen 13:35.

Pair – Inter: UCC 13:46.

Sculling, Quad – Inter: UCC 12:56. Jun 18A: Skibbereen 13:14. Jun 16, coxed: Workman’s 13:44.

Double – Inter: 13:39. Nov: St Brendan’s A 15:26. Jun 16: Lee 13:18.

Single – Sen: O Hayes 13:46. Inter: E McCarthy 14:24. Club: M Cremen 14:09. Jun 18A: E Hegarty 13:44. Jun 16: C Synott 14:22.

#Rowers of the Month: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for August are the Ireland junior quadruple scull which won two gold medals at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Szeged in Hungary. In early September, the senior team would make their mark at the World Championships, but in August it was the juniors which came away with a five-medal haul. The junior women’s double of Aoife Casey and Emily Hegarty took silver on Saturday and Sunday and single sculler Dervla Forde took bronze on the Sunday. But the most successful crew was the junior men’s quadruple of  Colm Hennessy, Eoghan Whittle, Patrick Munnelly and Andrew Goff. They had also taken gold at the 2014 Coupe.

 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 and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2015. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2015 champions list grow.