he 2018 European Rowing Championships began today (Thursday) for Irish crews in Glasgow. Heats were scheduled for the morning and afternoon, followed by repechages which allow crews a second chance to qualify for the A/B semi-finals or straight to finals.
First to race were Mark O’ Donovan and Shane O’ Driscoll in the men’s pairs, where a fourth place finish behind Belarus, Great Britain and the Netherland meant a repechage was required later in the afternoon, as just the top two crews qualified directly from the heat. In the repechage however, the Irish pair took second place and now progress to the A/B semi-finals tomorrow.
The lightweight women’s double sculls raced in the early afternoon, and Denise Walsh and Aoife Casey also produced a fourth place result for Ireland meaning they too faced the repechages. This was an even tougher ask of the Irish crew as only the winner of this heat would go through to the semi-finals. Their repechage is scheduled for 10.00am tomorrow morning, where it will be necessary to place first or second in order to progress to the A Final. All remaining boats will contest the B Final, no semi-finals are scheduled for this event.
Finally today the Irish lightweight men’s double sculls contingent consisting of brothers Gary and Paul O’ Donovan won their heat this afternoon, overcoming crews from France, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Switzerland and qualifying for the A/B semi-finals of the event. Just the top two boats qualified directly and they await the semi-finals on Saturday morning.
Results: Thursday 2nd August 2018 – Irish interest
European Championships (Rowing), Glasgow, Great Britain
Lightweight men’s double sculls, Heat 3: 1. IRL (G O’ Donovan, P O’Donovan) 06:27.990, 2. FRA 06:29.830, 3. UKR 06:33.630, 4. CZE 06:34.870, 5. SUI 06:36.040
Men’s pairs, Heat 2: 1. BLR 06:37.380, 2. GBR 06:37.760, 3. NED 06:43.110, 4. IRL (M O’ Donovan, S O’ Driscoll) 06:48.940, 5. POL 06:52.250
Men’s pairs, Repechage 1: 1. SRB 06:33.770, 2. IRL (M O’ Donovan, S O’ Driscoll) 06:35.740, 3. UKR 06:36.110, 4. AUT 06:38.800 5. HUN 06:52.800
Lightweight women’s double sculls, Heat 2: 1. POL 07:08.540, 2. SUI 07:09.560, 3. ITA 07:10.110, 4. IRL (D Walsh, A Casey) 07:22.020, 5. AUT 07:27.250, 6. NOR 07:37.450
