#Rowing: Ireland took gold and silver at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland, today. The Ireland lightweight pair of David O’Malley and Shane Mulvaney showed tremendous self-belief to take the gold. Italy seemed set to dominate their final, but Ireland and Greece moved on them before the 1500 metre mark. Italy could not deal with the speed of their opponents and fell back to third. Greece would not give in easily, but Ireland, who took bronze last year, would only settle for the gold and won by two-thirds of a length.
The lightweight quadruple of Miles Taylor, Niall Beggan, Ryan Ballantine and stroke Andrew Goff produced quite a turn of speed to take their silver.
They looked well off the main action in the first half – they were sixth at 1,000 metres. But in the third quarter they charged – and continued that charge to the finish, where only Italy could hold them off.
The women’s pair of Emily Hegarty and Tara Hanlon were out of contention in their B Final. The lightweight double of Lydia Heaphy and Margaret Cremen looked very good in the early stages of their race but faded to fifth and will compete in a B Final.
Ireland have two A Finals to look forward to on Sunday. Ronan Byrne, in the single sculls, and the lightweight double of Fintan and Jake McCarthy both finished second in their semi-finals.
World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Day Four, Poznan, Poland
Men
Lightweight Pair – A Final: 1 Ireland (S Mulvaney, D O’Malley) 6:54.48, 2 Greece 6:56.24, 3 Italy 7:00.07.
Lightweight Quadruple Sculls – A Final: 1 Italy 6:10.13, 2 Ireland 6:11.45, 3 United States 6:12.55.
Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) 1 Spain 6:41.66, 2 Ireland (F McCarthy, J McCarthy) 6:42.45, 3 New Zealand 6:44.17.
Single Sculls – Semi-Final (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 United States (B Davison) 7: 14.65, 2 Ireland (R Byrne) 7:17.88, 3 Germany (M Weber) 7:24.24.
Lightweight Single Sculls – D Final (Places 19 to 24): 2 Ireland (H Sutton) 7:21.95.
Women
Pair – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 6 Ireland (E Hegarty, T Hanlon) 7:51.20.
Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Italy 7:24.69, 2 Australia 7:30.08, 3 Greece 7:31.23; 5 Ireland (L Heaphy, M Cremen) 7:47.66.
