Day two of the European Championships started in an overcast Stratclyde park on the outskirts of Glasgow. Racing kicked off with the Womens lightweight double. The duo of hugely experienced Denise Walsh together with Aoife Casey who has climbed successfully into the senior role. The Skibbereen double keep a solid third place throughout the race but the skilled lightweight doubles from Switzerland featuring Patricia Merz and Ferderique Rol who recently took 3rd place at World Cup III in Lucerne won convincingly. The British LW2x of Eleanor Piggott and Francesca Rawlins who won a bronze medal at World Cup II took second place. The Irish double will now go into Sunday’s B Final.
The last race of Friday’s regatta was the coveted men’s pair. With 16 entries overall in the event, this category is one of the most difficult to crack. However, the Irish pair of O’Donovan and O’Driscoll are coming up on the field after switching from lightweight to open weight. With big weight differences still between the rest of the class the pair pulled off a gutsy performance and held their own in this difficult field. In a faster second half and a sprint finish with their renowned high rate the pair came in fifth only 2 seconds behind the Italian World champions who took a third placing to go through to the A final. The pair will now race the B final tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s racing is as follows:
FINAL B: M2- 09:36 (Mark O’Donovan/Shane O’Driscoll)
SEMI FINAL: LM2x 10:54 (Gary O’Donovan/Paul O’Donovan)
