Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy win gold in successful day for Irish at European Rowing Championships

Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan of Ireland celebrate with their gold medals after the Lightweight Men's Double Sculls A Final during Day 3 of the European Rowing Championships 2021 at Varese in Italy. Photo by Roberto Bregani/Sportsfile

Brendan Kelly Palenque

April 11 2021 02:22 PM

Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy won the gold medal for the lightweight men's double sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Italy today.

The Irish rowers came home in a time of 6:18.14. Just behind them were Germany in second (6:19.94), and Italy in third (6:21.05) to add the European title to the World crown they won in Austria two years ago .

An there was earler Irish success in the championship, with the nation also bringing home a medal in the A final of the women’s fours.

Taking home a silver medal, Emily Hegarty, Eimear Lambe, Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh fought a gallant battle for gold to the line, losing out by less than a second.

Throughout the race, they were inching ahead of the British team, with the Dutch keeping a steady lead - although only just about.

Ultimately though the Dutch crossed first with a time of 6:27.51, although Ireland was really close behind at 6:27.96. Great Britain ended up in third with a time of 6:31.27.

The women’s win was the first medal for Team Ireland at this year's championships.

Meanwhile, Gary O'Donovan just missed out on bronze, landing in the fourth spot in the final of the lightweight men's single sculls.

The Skibbereen competitor came with a late charge and was trailing for much of the race. Unfortunately, he just could not overtake Poland's Artur Mikolajczewski from the third spot.

In the end Peter Galambos from Hungary won the race with a time of 7:01.52. O'Donovan clocked in with a final time of 7:05.82.

Also participating for Team Ireland, was Lydia Heaphy from the UCC Rowing club, who finished sixth in the final of the lightweight women's single sculls with a time of 7:58.70.

Looking at the women's pair final, Monika Dukarska (Killorglin RC) and Aileen Crowley (Old Collegians BC) had a good start, as they were in third place in the first half of the race.

Unfortunately, they fell behind as Great Britain's Helen Glover and Polly Swann managed to take the gold with a time of 7:02.73. Dukarska and Crowley ended up placing sixth, finishing in 7:11.83.

Earlier on, the Irish pair of Ronan Byrne and Phil Doyle won the double sculls B final, while Daire Lynch finished second in the men's single scull C final.