#HomeInternationalRowing: Ireland had to be content with second places both in crew terms and in overall categories at the Home International Regatta in Nottingham. England had a clean sweep, winning both the senior men’s and women’s categories and the junior men’s and women’s. Ireland senior men and junior women filled the runners-up spots; the senior women finished fourth and the junior men third.

The men’s junior pair of Ryan McKenna and Alex Chadfield from Clonmel won, as did the Ireland junior women’s eight. Twelve Ireland crews finished second in their races.

#World Under-23Rowing: Paul O’Donovan took a bronze medal for Ireland at the World Under-23 Championships in Linz in Austria this morning. The 19-year-old Skibbereen man, who is a scholarship student at UCD, had a controlled race in the A Final of the lightweight single sculls. Andrew Campbell Jr of the United States was the strong leader from early on, while O’Donovan and eventual silver medallist Franciscus Goutier of the Netherlands stayed in the mix behind him. New Zealander Adam Ling did push to take bronze, but O’Donovan saw him off with his characteristic fast finish.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Linz, Austria, Day Five (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Pair – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Netherlands 6:47.87, 2 Hungary 6:49.68, 3 Slovenia 6:49.83, 4 Ireland (S O’Connor, F McQuillan-Tolan) 7:00.93, 5 Ukraine 7:03.46, 6 Lithuania 7:07.13.

Lightweight Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Denmark 6:37.95, 2 Poland 6:40.97, 3 Lithuania 6:41.40, 4 Britain 6:44.76, 5 Norway 6:45.20, 6 Ireland (S O’Driscoll, G O’Donovan) 6:46.78.

Lightweight Single Sculls – A Final: 1 United States (A Campbell Jr) 7:07.84, 2 Netherlands (F Goutier) 7:10.49, 3 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:11.67; 4 New Zealand 7:12.44, 5 Turkey 7:18.84, 6 Britain 7:20.54.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Greece (A Nikolaidou) 7:58.12, 2 Belarus (A Kryvasheyenka) 8:02.79, 3 Japan (A Oishi) 8:06.68; 4 Belgium 8:09.10, 5 Austria 8:09.32, 6 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:14.47.

#WorldUnder-23Rowing: Denise Walsh finished sixth in the A Final of the lightweight single sculls at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships in Linz in Austria this morning. The Skibbereen woman and Belgium’s Eveline Peleman were not far off the pace at the back of the field in the first half of the race, but when Peleman moved away, Walsh struggled. The race was won by Aikaterini Nikolaidou of Greece.

Seán O’Connor and Fionnán McQuillan-Tolan finished fourth in the B Final of the men’s pair, 10th overall. The Netherlands were the premier crew throughout, and for most of the first half of the race Slovenia held second and Hungary and Ireland were in third and fourth. Hungary had a good second half and left Ireland behind and then caught and passed Slovenia at the finish, to take second.

In the men’s lightweight double sculls, Shane O’Driscoll and Gary O’Donovan finished sixth. Denmark won convincingly. Ireland looked a possibility for fourth, and 10th overall, but were passed by Lithuania and Britain in the second half of the race.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Linz, Austria, Day Five (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Pair – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Netherlands 6:47.87, 2 Hungary 6:49.68, 3 Slovenia 6:49.83, 4 Ireland (S O’Connor, F McQuillan-Tolan) 7:00.93, 5 Ukraine 7:03.46, 6 Lithuania 7:07.13.

Lightweight Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Denmark 6:37.95, 2 Poland 6:40.97, 3 Lithuania 6:41.40, 4 Britain 6:44.76, 5 Norway 6:45.20, 6 Ireland (S O’Driscoll, G O’Donovan) 6:46.78.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Greece (A Nikolaidou) 7:58.12, 2 Belarus (A Kryvasheyenka) 8:02.79, 3 Japan (A Oishi) 8:06.68; 4 Belgium 8:09.10, 5 Austria 8:09.32, 6 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:14.47.

#WorldUnder-23Rowing: The Ireland women’s four finished fourth at the World Under-23 Championships in Linz in Austria today. The heat was so intense at the scheduled race time – a reported 40 degrees on the water – that the race had to be postponed for an hour. The Irish, who are a new crew, were well up to the pace in the race until about 1400 metres into the 2,000. The crew of Emily Tormey, Ailish Sheehan, Aifric Keogh and Lisa Dilleen held third behind dominant Australia and second-placed Russia, the bronze medallists last year. But the Irish crew clipped a buoy and New Zealand passed them.  Australia took gold, Russia silver and New Zealand bronze.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Linz, Austria, Day Four (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Four – B Final (places 7 to 11): 1 Croatia 6:14.55, 2 Lithuania 6:17.00, 3 Ireland (R Bennett, M Wray, J Mitchell, R O’Callaghan) 6: 19.24, 4 Norway 6:19.29. Britain did not start.

Pair - (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 South Africa (D Hunt, V Breet) 6:46.15, 2 Greece (K Christomanos, A Dafnis) 6:49.16, 3 Serbia (M Vasic, R Deric) 6:49.47; 4 Hungary 6:50.31, 5 Ireland (S O’Connor, F McQuillan-Tolan) 6:59.77, 6 Lithuania 7:20.32.

Lightweight Double Sculls – (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 Germany (M Moos, J Osborne) 6:36.55, 2 Italy (L Barbaro, S Molteni) 6:37.75, 3 Spain (J de Haz, J Zabala Artetxe) 6:37.88; 4 Poland 6:38.49, 5 Ireland (S O’Driscoll, G O’Donovan) 6:46.30, 6 Norway 6:48.13.

Lightweight Single Sculls – (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 United States (A Campbell) 7:11.15, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:12.58, 3 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:14.26; 4 Australia 7:22.67, 5 Italy 7:24.34, 6 Germany 7:28.69.

Single Sculls – D Final (places 19 to 24): 6 Ireland (A Boreham) 7:36.40.

Women

Four – A Final: 1 Australia (H Vermeersch, A Hagan, C Sutherland, L Stephan) 6:47.72, 2 Russia (T Afinogevova, E Tikhanova, A Tikhanova, A Zhukova) 6:53.92, 3 New Zealand (J Kearney, K Froude, K Walters, A Green) 6:53.97; 4 Ireland (E Tormey, A Sheehan, A Keogh, L Dilleen) 6:58.57, 5 Netherlands 7:02.00, 6 Poland 7:09.27.

Lightweight Single Sculls – (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Finals Two: 1 Greece (A Nikolaidou) 7:54.92, 2 Austria (A Berger) 8:00.22, 3 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:00.28; 4 France 8:04.30, 5 Germany 8:11.25, 6 Cyprus 8:11.63.

#WorldUnder-23Rowing: The Ireland heavyweight four finished third in their B Final, ninth overall, at the World Under-23 Championships in Linz in Austria this morning. Croatia won the race and Lithuania, after duelling with Ireland in the middle stages, secured second. The Ireland crew of Richie Bennett, Matthew Wray, John Mithcell and Rob O’Callaghan held off Norway for third. Britain withdrew as they had to call on one of the members of the crew for their quadruple scull.

 Adam Boreham, the reserve for the men's heavyweight crews,  finished sixth in the D Final of the men's single sculls, 24th overall.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Linz, Austria, Day Four (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Four – B Final (places 7 to 11): 1 Croatia 6:14.55, 2 Lithuania 6:17.00, 3 Ireland (R Bennett, M Wray, J Mitchell, R O’Callaghan) 6: 19.24, 4 Norway 6:19.29. Britain did not start.

Pair - (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 South Africa (D Hunt, V Breet) 6:46.15, 2 Greece (K Christomanos, A Dafnis) 6:49.16, 3 Serbia (M Vasic, R Deric) 6:49.47; 4 Hungary 6:50.31, 5 Ireland (S O’Connor, F McQuillan-Tolan) 6:59.77, 6 Lithuania 7:20.32.

Lightweight Double Sculls – (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 Germany (M Moos, J Osborne) 6:36.55, 2 Italy (L Barbaro, S Molteni) 6:37.75, 3 Spain (J de Haz, J Zabala Artetxe) 6:37.88; 4 Poland 6:38.49, 5 Ireland (S O’Driscoll, G O’Donovan) 6:46.30, 6 Norway 6:48.13.

Lightweight Single Sculls – (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 United States (A Campbell) 7:11.15, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:12.58, 3 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:14.26; 4 Australia 7:22.67, 5 Italy 7:24.34, 6 Germany 7:28.69.

 Single Sculls - D Final (places 19 to 24): 6 Ireland (A Boreham) 7:36.40.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Finals Two: 1 Greece (A Nikolaidou) 7:54.92, 2 Austria (A Berger) 8:00.22, 3 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:00.28; 4 France 8:04.30, 5 Germany 8:11.25, 6 Cyprus 8:11.63.

#WorldUnder-23Rowing: Ireland qualified two more boats for the A Finals of the World Under-23 Rowing Championships at Linz in Austria this morning, nailing top-three places in the semi-finals to join the women’s four in the hunt for medals.

Denise Walsh started the day well for the team in green by qualifying in the lightweight single sculls. Aikaterini Nikolaidou of Greece led the semi-final all the way down the course and won.   Walsh and Anna Berger of Austria got away from Julie Marechal of France to secure second and third, with the Austrian pipping the Skibbereen woman for second.

The favourite for gold, Andrew Campbell Jr of the United States, set the pace in the second semi-final of the lightweight single sculls. Paul O’Donovan again had a slow start and by half way still trailed the American by more than a length. O’Donovan, characteristically, closed on his rival in the second half, but Campbell held him off. Zak Lee-Green of Britain took the third qualifying place.

In the men’s pair, Fionnán McQuillan-Tolan and Seán O’Connor finished fifth in a race in which South Africa, Greece and Serbia took a grip of the qualifying places quite early.

Ireland’s lightweight double scull of Shane O’Driscoll and Gary O’Donovan fought their way from sixth to fourth in the middle stages of their semi-final, but could not break into the top three. Poland pushed them into fifth in the second half of the race.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Linz, Austria, Day Four (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Pair - (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 South Africa (D Hunt, V Breet) 6:46.15, 2 Greece (K Christomanos, A Dafnis) 6:49.16, 3 Serbia (M Vasic, R Deric) 6:49.47; 4 Hungary 6:50.31, 5 Ireland (S O’Connor, F McQuillan-Tolan) 6:59.77, 6 Lithuania 7:20.32.

Lightweight Double Sculls – (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 Germany (M Moos, J Osborne) 6:36.55, 2 Italy (L Barbaro, S Molteni) 6:37.75, 3 Spain (J de Haz, J Zabala Artetxe) 6:37.88; 4 Poland 6:38.49, 5 Ireland (S O’Driscoll, G O’Donovan) 6:46.30, 6 Norway 6:48.13.

Lightweight Single Sculls – (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 United States (A Campbell) 7:11.15, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:12.58, 3 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:14.26; 4 Australia 7:22.67, 5 Italy 7:24.34, 6 Germany 7:28.69.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Finals Two: 1 Greece (A Nikolaidou) 7:54.92, 2 Austria (A Berger) 8:00.22, 3 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:00.28; 4 France 8:04.30, 5 Germany 8:11.25, 6 Cyprus 8:11.63.

#WorldUnder-23Rowing: Shane O’Driscoll and Gary O’Donovan brought Ireland a second semi-final place this morning at the World Under-23 Championships at Linz in Austria. The repechage of the lightweight double sculls turned into a three-way battle for two places between Ireland, Britain and Chile. The Irish got through in second, securing qualification. Britain won the race by a single second.

Paul O'Donovan, Gary's younger brother, had secured his semi-final place by winning his quarter-final of  the lightweight single sculls. 

Adam Boreham, who travelled as a reserve for the Ireland pair and four, finished sixth in quarter-final of the men’s single sculls and and sixth in the C/D semi-finals. He will compete in the D Final for places 19 to 24.

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

Men

Single Sculls – (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals) – Quarter-Final Four: 1 Germany (H Trzybinski) 7:13.77, 2 Belgium (H Obreno) 7:16.00, 3 Norway (J Boehn) 7:19.41; 4 Australia 7:20.20, 5 United States 7:27.76, 6 Ireland (A Boreham) 7:42.11. C/D Semi-Finals: 6 Boreham 7:36.30.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Repechage Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 (S Sykes, J Copus) 6:49.89, 2 Ireland (S O’Driscoll, G O’Donovan) 6:50.89; 3 Greece 6:52.79, 4 Chile 6:59.23, 5 Slovenia 7:02.67.

Lightweight Single Sculls – (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals) – Quarter-Final Three: 1 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:11.32, 2 Turkey (E Kusku) 7:14.06, 3 Hungary (B Tamas) 7:14.54; 4 Chile 7:17.11, 5 Mexico 7:35.88, 6 Estonia 7:46.20.

#WorldUnder-23Rowing: Paul O’Donovan won his quarter-final of the lightweight single sculls at the World Under-23 Championships in Linz in Austria this morning after an interesting race. Enes Kusku of Turkey led – and led well – for much of the race, with Bence Tamas of Hungary and O’Donovan filling the next two qualification places. But O’Donovan is a good judge of a race and has an effective sprint finish. He sped past Kusku to win by 2.28 seconds.

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

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals) – Quarter-Final Three: 1 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:11.32, 2 Turkey (E Kusku) 7:14.06, 3 Hungary (B Tamas) 7:14.54; 4 Chile 7:17.11, 5 Mexico 7:35.88, 6 Estonia 7:46.20.

#WorldUnder-23Rowing: The Ireland women’s four secured the first A Final place for Ireland at the World Under-23 Rowing Regatta at Linz in Austria today. The crew of Emily Tormey, Ailish Sheehan, Aifric Keogh and Lisa Dilleen needed to finish in the top two of their repechage to get through, and by the closing stages Ireland and Poland were on their way to those places. However, Ireland beat Poland into second to improve their lane draw in the final.

 The Ireland men's four of Richie Bennett, Matthew Wray, Jonathan Mitchell and Rob O'Callaghan will row in a B Final. They finished fifth in their repechage.

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

Men

Four – Repechage One (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Germany 6:01.85, 2 Italy 6:03.35; 3 Croatia 6:05.59, 4 Norway 6:11.03, 5 Ireland (R Bennett, M Wray, J Mitchell, R O’Callaghan) 6:16.97.

Pair – (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat Two: 1 Australia (A Moore, A Hill) 6:37.37, 2 Ireland (S O’Connor, F McQuillan-Tolan) 6:49.15; 3 Russia 6:54.42, 4 Venezuela 7:05.10, 5 United States 7:09.48, 6 Estonia 7:15.64.

Lightweight Double Sculls – (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat Three: 1 France (D Piqueras, D Houin) 6:26.65, 2 Italy (L Barbaro, S Molteni) 6:31.96; 3 Ireland (S O’Driscoll, G O’Donovan) 6:37.40, 4 Russia 6:42.81, 5 Lithuania 7:05.01.

Women

Four – Repechage One (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (E Tormey, A Sheehan, A Keogh, L Dilleen) 6:48.03, 2 Poland (A Budzynska, J Dittmann, M Cylwik, O Michalkiewicz) 6:48.59; 3 United States 6:54.09, 4 Italy 6:55.92, 5 France 6:58.66.

Lightweight Single Sculls – (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 Belgium (E Peleman) 7:46.06, 2 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:50.87; 3 Croatia 7:52.54, 4 Germany 8:00.47, 5 Israel 8:04.22, 6 Argentina 8:06.23.

#WorldUnder-23Rowing: Ireland’s Shane O’Driscoll and Gary O’Donovan finished third in their heat of the lightweight double sculls this morning at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships in Linz in Austria. France set the winning pace and Italy followed them into the second direct qualification place for the semi-finals. O’Driscoll and O’Donovan did not have the required fast first quarter, and despite competing hard in the middle stages the qualification place eluded them. They are now set for the repechages. 

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

Men

Pair – (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat Two: 1 Australia (A Moore, A Hill) 6:37.37, 2 Ireland (S O’Connor, F McQuillan-Tolan) 6:49.15; 3 Russia 6:54.42, 4 Venezuela 7:05.10, 5 United States 7:09.48, 6 Estonia 7:15.64.

Lightweight Double Sculls – (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat Three: 1 France (D Piqueras, D Houin) 6:26.65, 2 Italy (L Barbaro, S Molteni) 6:31.96; 3 Ireland (S O’Driscoll, G O’Donovan) 6:37.40, 4 Russia 6:42.81, 5 Lithuania 7:05.01.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 Belgium (E Peleman) 7:46.06, 2 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:50.87; 3 Croatia 7:52.54, 4 Germany 8:00.47, 5 Israel 8:04.22, 6 Argentina 8:06.23.