It has been a successful weekend so far for Irish crews at the 2017 European Rowing Championships, as all three competing crews have now qualified for the A Finals on Sunday and the chance to reach the podium. First up again today was Denise Walsh in the lightweight women’s single sculls semi-final, where she took second place, looking comfortable throughout. The top three boats were to progress to the A Final, the others going to the B race, and Walsh is certainly making her intentions known. She also won her heat, convincingly, yesterday. The winner of Walsh’s semi-final, Sweden’s Patricia Merz, took the lead early on and held for the entire duration of the race, setting the quick pace. Walsh was second to her by just 3.05 seconds. She races for a medal at 09:46 (Irish time) tomorrow morning.
Next up, the Irish lightweight men’s double of Gary and Paul O’ Donovan lined up to race their own semi-final, with a view to improving even further on yesterday’s performance and securing a spot in tomorrow’s final. A minimum third place finish was again needed here, and again the Irish went one better and took second. The Irish crew finished just over two and a half seconds behind the French crew of Pierre Houin and Jeremie Azou, the crew who beat them to the Gold medal in Rio last year by the most minimal of margins, .53 of a second. They will meet again tomorrow in the A Final where it is sure to be a fight to the death for medals. The O’ Donovans were the second fastest crew across both semi-finals today, and will be eager to defend their title of European Champions at 10:46 (Irish time) tomorrow.
First up tomorrow however are Shane O’ Driscoll and Mark O’ Donovan in the lightweight men’s pair, where crews from Italy, Turkey, France, Great Britain and Russia will all be racing for medals. In the exhibition race on Friday to determine Sunday’s lane allocation, the Irish took a convincing first place, over two seconds ahead of nearest rivals Italy. They will no doubt have their sight set firmly on Gold tomorrow, to add to their tally of a World Cup I Gold medal in Belgrade less than a month ago. They race at 09:33 Irish time, with coverage from RTE running all morning from 9:15am to 1:00pm showing racing, commentary and interviews.
Speaking to Team Manager Susan Dunlea this morning, she said the “the whole Team are delighted that all our crews have reached their respective finals.” She added, “The competition has been of a very high standard and to progress to the top six in A Finals is a credit to everyone involved.”
Irish Results 2017 European Rowing Championships, Saturday 27th May:
Lightweight women’s single sculls, Semi-final A/B 1: 1. SUI 7:39.48, 2. IRL 7:42.53, 3. ITA 7:43.99, 4. NED 7:48.86, 5. AUT 7:49.66, 6. CZE 7:56.90
Lightweight men’s double sculls, Semi-final A/B 1: 1. FRA 6:35.68, 2. IRL 6:38.09, 3. GER 6:38.17, 4. CZE 6:41.86, 5. GRE 6:49.59, 6. ESP 7:02.70
