#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.