The 2024 international rowing season has officially begun with the first World Cup in Italy, and the Irish crews have made their presence felt right from the start.
The Women's Four of Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe, and Imogen Magner clinched first place in their heat, leaving the reigning World Champions, the Netherlands, behind. The Irish crew left it to their final sprint to move into the leading position, securing their place in the top two direct qualifying spots. Sunday's final promises to be an exciting event as the Irish crew looks forward to the challenge.
Sanita Puspure goes into the A/B semifinals on Saturday in the Rowing World Cup with the second-fastest time and hopes to make it to the top three spots
Sanita Puspure, who had a challenging race in Tokyo, made a strong comeback in her single, crossing the line first in her heat. Puspure goes into the A/B semifinals on Saturday with the second-fastest time and hopes to make it to the top three spots, which will go on to the A Final. In the Women's Pair, Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh were the first to hit the water, finishing just one second behind the Netherlands, the 2023 World Championship gold medalists.
As a preliminary race for lanes, Sunday's final promises to be an interesting event with different strategies from the individual teams. Both of Ireland's Men's Scullers, Konan Pazzaia, and Brian Colsh, successfully progressed from their heats and qualified for this afternoon's Quarterfinals. Pazzaia held his position through the race, finishing in second place, while Colsh secured his spot in the Quarterfinals by finishing third in his heat.
Irish Men's Sculler Konan Pazzaia
Irish Men's Sculler Konan Pazzaia
Pazzaia bumped it up again in the Men's Single Quarterfinals, beating Quentin Antognelli from Monaco on the line to finish in third, securing the last qualifying spot to the A/B Semi. Tomorrow he'll face last year's World Champion, Ollie Zeidler from Germany. Colsh is into the C Final after a fifth place finish in his Quarterfinal. Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch are into tomorrow morning's repechage in the Men's Double, having just missed out on qualifying directly into the A Final.
The fastest two doubles will make it to the race for medals on Sunday. The Fermanagh pair of Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan finished fourth in the heat of the Men's Pair and are into tomorrow's repechage. The top two crews from the repechage will make it through to the A Final.
Ireland's M4 - Ronan Byrne, Jack Dorney, Andrew Sheehan and John Kearney
The Men's Four of John Kearney, Andrew Sheehan, Jack Dorney, and Ronan Byrne finished fifth in their heat and will race again tomorrow in the repechage. It's just two boats from a competitive field that will make it through to Sunday's A Final.
Saturday's schedule (IST) includes the Men's Single C Final (Colsh), Men's Pair Repechage, Men's Double Repechage, Men's Four Repechage, Women's Single A/B Semi, and Men's Single A/B Semi (Pazzaia).
Fans can look forward to a thrilling day of racing as Ireland continues to make its mark on the international stage.
