Three Irish Crews are into the A/B Semi-finals at U23 World Rowing Championships

21st July 2023

Irish BW1x Alison Bergin rower with coach Leah O'Regan

Rowing Ireland's BW1x Alison Bergin rower with Coach Leah O'Regan

Day two (Thursday) finished up in Plovdiv at the U23 World Rowing Championships, and three Irish crews are into the A/B Semi-finals.

Konan Pazzaia and Brian Colsh were first up on the water for the Heat of the Men's Double. Starting how they mean to go on, the Queen's-University of Galway pairing won the first heat to progress directly to the A/B Semi on Saturday.

Following suit, the Lightweight Men's Double of Ciaran Purdy and Rory O'Neill made their debut, winning their heat to progress straight into the A/B Semi. Sitting in second place behind Italy through the halfway mark, Ireland held a steady race, relying on the strong finish shown by the Irish athletes repeatedly. In the third 500m, Purdy and O'Neill made their move and rowed through the Italian double of Luca Borgonovo and Nicolo' Demiliani. They're up again on Saturday morning, where they'll race for a spot in the A Final.

2022 Bronze medallist, Alison Bergin, is into tomorrow's Repechage of the Women's Scull after a second-place finish in this morning's heat. Drawn against this year's Senior European Championship silver medallist, Aurelia-Maxima Katharina Janzen, it was always going to be a tough race for the Fermoy sculler, with only one to qualify directly to the A/B Semi. Bergin held a consistent speed through the middle 1000m, holding her own race, allowing her to overtake the sculler from South Africa before breaking into the race's final quarter.

Andrew Sheehan was up again today for the Repechage of the Men's Scull. Dominating his race, Sheehan led from the start and never gave the sculler from Turkey a chance to take his lead. From the early stages of the race it was Ireland and Turkey that broke away from the pack, creating a six-second gap from the first 500m mark. With two boats to qualify for the A/B Semi, it was clear from early on who was taking those spots.

Friday is a quiet day with just Alison Bergin racing in her Repechage, but it will be another busy day on Saturday for the Semi-finals.

Thursday Results
BM2x Heat 1st -> A/B Semi
BLM2x Heat 1st -> A/B Semi
BW1x Heat 2nd -> Repechage
BM1x Repechage 1st -> A/B Semi

Friday Schedule (IST)
7:35am - BW1x Repechage

Published in Rowing

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rowing

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