Ireland has seven rowing crews competing this week at the 'Mega Worlds'. The U19 and U23 Championships are being held simultaneously in Varese, Italy. On Tuesday, the U23 crews were out for their heats and this morning (Wednesday) will see the start of the junior racing.
The first crew to take to the water was the BM2x of Konan Pazzaia and Brian Colsh. The QUBBC and NUIG BC duo finished first in their heat and have qualified straight into the A/B Semi taking place on Thursday.
Next up was the BM4- of John Kearney (UCC RC), Andrew Sheehan (Lee RC), Nathan Timoney (QUBBC) and Adam Murphy (Shandon BC). The crew finished second in their heat, with a fast time of 6:00.22. However, with only one crew to qualify straight into the A/B Semi, they will have to race the Repechage on Wednesday.
A full QUBBC crew of Hugh Moore and Ciaran Purdy, started off steady and slowly made their way through the field. The BLM2x crossed the line in third position behind the Netherlands and Belgium, missing out on the direct A/B Semi qualification by just two seconds. They will race again in the hopes of making one of those A/B Semi spots!
Fermoy RC rower, Alison Bergin, started her 2022 Worlds journey yesterday when she raced her heat. An unlucky heat draw put her in the fastest heat, and even with a very fast time of 7:37.07, a fourth place finish meant that she had to race again today in the Repechage. This did not slow her down, as Alison won her rep by almost 18 seconds, qualifying her for the A/B Semi on Friday.
Wednesday morning will see the start of the Junior racing, with the Irish JW2x and JM2x taking to the water.
Wednesday Schedule (IST)
- JW2x Heat - 8:30am
- JM2x Heat - 9:10am
- BM4- Rep - 1:25pm
- BLM2x Rep - 1:55pm
