#Rowing: Ireland's Shane O'Driscoll and Mark O'Donovan finished fifth in the A Final of the lightweight double sculls at the World Cup regatta in Poznan, Poland this afternoon. The Irish crew put in a good final third, but they had slipped too far back to find a medal placing. At the head of the field, Britain's Sam Scrimgeour and Joel Cassells came under real pressure from Denmark, but held out, with France taking the bronze medal.

World Cup Regatta, Poznan, Poland (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Pair - Repechage (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (M O'Donovan, S O'Driscoll) 6:36.95, 2 Denmark 6:39.04, 3 Germany 6:42.79, 4 Turkey 6:44.77; 5 Netherlands 6:49.26, 6 Austria 7:05.32. A Final: 1 Britain 6:26.78, 2 Denmark 6:27.66, 3 France 6:29.79; 4 Turkey 6:30.84, 5 Ireland  6:32.14, 6 Germany 6:35.45.

 Lightweight Double Sculls - Repechage (First Two to A Final; Rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (G O'Donovan, P O'Donovan) 6:15.08, 2 Britain (W Fletcher, R Chambers) 6:15.22; 3 Germany 6:15.91, 4 Switzerland 6:36.24, 5 Romania.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls - D Final (Places 19, 20): 1 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:04.66, 2 Thailand (R Raklao) 8:25.85.

#Rowing: Paul and Gary O'Donovan produced a storming final 1,000 metres to win their repechage and take a place in the A Final of the lightweight double sculls at the World Cup regatta in Poznan in Poland today. Germany led all the way to halfway, looking impressive and holding off Britain and Ireland. But the O'Donovan brothers, in the middle of these two crews, charged through both and were clear leaders by the final 100 metres. Germany lost out on the crucial second place by .69 of a second.  

World Cup Regatta, Poznan, Poland (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Pair - Repechage (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (M O'Donovan, S O'Driscoll) 6:36.95, 2 Denmark 6:39.04, 3 Germany 6:42.79, 4 Turkey 6:44.77; 5 Netherlands 6:49.26, 6 Austria 7:05.32.

 Lightweight Double Sculls - Repechage (First Two to A Final; Rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (G O'Donovan, P O'Donovan) 6:15.08, 2 Britain 6:15.22; 3 Germany 6:15.91, 4 Switzerland 6:36.24, 5 Romania.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls - D Final (Places 19, 20): 1 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:04.66, 2 Thailand (R Raklao) 8:25.85.

#Rowing: Ireland's good start to the second day of the World Cup regatta in Poznan in Poland continued as the lightweight men's pair won their repechage and took their place in the A Final. In bright, sunny, conditions with a strong tailwind, Mark O'Donovan and Shane O'Driscoll were in control of this race from half way and won with a clearwater lead. Denmark, Germany and Turkey took the other A Final places. The Netherlands and Austria were off the pace all through and will compete in the B Final.

World Cup Regatta, Poznan, Poland (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Pair - Repechage (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (M O'Donovan, S O'Driscoll) 6:36.95, 2 Denmark 6:39.04, 3 Germany 6:42.79, 4 Turkey 6:44.77; 5 Netherlands 6:49.26, 6 Austria 7:05.32

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls - D Final (Places 19, 20): 1 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:04.66, 2 Thailand (R Raklao) 8:25.85.

#Rowing: In extreme conditions, Ireland's Mark O'Donovan and Shane O'Driscoll finished fourth in their heat of the lightweight men's pair at the World Cup in Poznan in Poland. Britain's Sam Scrimgeour and Joel Cassells took the one A Final place on offer, while O'Donovan and O'Driscoll battled it out with Germany and Turkey behind them in a powerful tailwind and driving rain. These crews will have a repechage tomorrow - unusually, on the same day as the final.

World Cup Regatta, Poznan, Poland (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Pair - Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Britain (J Cassells, S Scrimgeour) 6:44.66; 4 Ireland (M O'Donovan, S O'Driscoll) 6:48.29.

Lightweight Double Sculls - Heats (Winner to A Final; rest to Repechages) - Heat One: 1 France 6:19.48; 3 Britain (W Fletcher, R Chambers) 6:25.13.

Heat Two: 1 Norway 6:18.90; 2 Ireland (G O'Donovan, P O'Donovan) 6:19.45, 3 Austria 6:34.23.  

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls - Heats (Winner to A Final; rest to Repechages) - Heat One: 1 Netherlands 7:04.01.

Heat Two: 1 Ireland (C Lambe, S Lynch) 7:05.36; 2 Poland 7:06.48, 3 Netherlands Two 7:09.28.

Lightweight Single Sculls - Heat Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Denmark (A Runge Holmegaard) 7:55.99, 2 Netherlands Three (A Van Zomeren) 7:56.83;

3 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:11.09.

#Rowing: Ireland’s Paul and Gary O’Donovan took third place in their semi-final of the lightweight double sculls and secured a spot in the A Final at the World Cup Regattta in Lucerne. Britain’s Will Fletcher and Richard Chambers (a Coleraine man) had a disappointing heat but made up for it here: they started well and led until headed by Norway. Behind both, Ireland held off Poland to take the last qualification place. France were the fastest crew of the day in winning the first semi-final, with South Africa and the United States also going through.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Switzerland (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Finals (Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 France (P Houin, J Azou) 6:19.16, 2 South Africa 6:21.91, 3 United States 6:22.15.

Semi-Final Two: 1 Norway (K Brun, A Strandli) 6:19.63, 2 Britain (W Fletcher, R Chambers) 6:21.37, 3 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:23.30; 4 Poland 6:24.08, 5 Switzerland 6:33.62, 6 Chile 6:40.20.

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Finals (Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi-Final One: 1 New Zealand 7:01.10, 2 South Africa 7:01.16, China One 7:03.37.

Semi-Final Two: 1 Canada (L Jennerich, P Obee) 6:58.88, 2 Denmark 7:00.91, 3 2 China Two 7:01.80; 4 Ireland (C Lambe, S Lynch) 7:02.23.

#Rowing: Ireland had two fourth-place finishes in their first two A Finals of the European Rowing Championships in Brandenburg in Germany. The lightweight men’s pair of Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll finished impressively to push Germany into fifth. Britain’s Sam Scrimgeour and Joel Cassells won, with Denmark second and Spain third. Lightweight single sculler Denise Walsh also had a good final quarter. Her race was dominated by Anja Noske of Germany, with Denmark and the Netherlands taking silver and bronze.  Sinéad Jennings and Claire Lambe finished third in the B Final of the women’s lightweight double sculls, ninth overall. Sweden beat Britain into second, with Ireland over two seconds further back.

European Rowing Championships, Brandenburg, Germany – Day Three (Irish interest; selected results):

Men

Lightweight Pair – A Final: 1 Britain (S Scrimgeour, J Cassells) 7:00.38, 2 Denmark 7:03.94, 3 Spain 7:05.32; 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll)  7:09.67

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Sweden 7:27.70, 2 Britain 7:27.99, 3 Ireland (C Lambe, S Jennings) 7:30.28.

Lightweight Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Germany (A Noske) 8:26.75, 2 Denmark 8:32.54, 3 Netherlands 8:37.05; 4 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:42.93.

#Rowing: Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll gave Ireland their second A Final place at the European Rowing Championships in Brandenburg in Germany with a second-place finish in this morning’s repechage. The Ireland lightweight pair rowed a brave race. Four boats qualified from six, but it was a battle all the way down the course.  O’Donovan and O’Driscoll had a good start and led all the way until the final quarter, where Denmark passed them. The margins were tight for qualification: Poland found themselves edged out by six hundredths of a second by fast-finishing Portugal.

 Denise Walsh had earlier qualifed for the A Final of the lightweight single sculls.

European Championships, Brandenburg, Germany – Day Two (Selected results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Repechage (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Denmark 7:26.63, 2 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 7:27.99, 3 Germany 7:29.0, 4 Portugal 7:29.70.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (D Walsh)  8:39.41, 2 Britain (I Walsh) 8:41.08.

#Rowing: Ireland’s Gary and Paul O’Donovan took silver at the first World Cup Regatta of the year in Varese in Italy this morning. South Africa took gold, having broken away from the Irish in the final quarter, only to be almost caught on the line – thre was just .23 of a second in it. Belgium took the bronze.    

World Cup Regatta, Varese, Italy – Day Three (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 South Africa 6:41.13, 2 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:41.36, 3 Belgium 6:44.12; 4 Netherlands One 6:44.29, 5 Spain 6:49.1, 6 Denmark 6:55.17.  

#Rowing: Sinéad Jennings and Claire Lambe ended their campaign at the World Cup Regatta in Varese with a commanding performance to win the C Final of the lightweight double sculls. They led all the way and were four lengths clear of nearest rivals, Italy Three, at the finish.  

 Ireland had two competitors in the repechage of the women’s lightweight single sculls. There were two places on offer in an A Final, but Poland and Switzerland One took these. Siobhán McCrohan finished fifth and Denise Walsh sixth.  In the lightweight men’s four, Ireland battled it out for third in the C Final with Austria, losing out by .15 of a second.  In the C Final of the women’s pair, Leonora Kennedy and Barbara O’Brien finished third. Norway pipped Ukraine to win.

World Cup Regatta, Varese – Day Two (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Four – C Final (places 13 to 16): 1 Canada One 6:09.73, 2 Serbia 6:11.21, 3 Austria 6:15.85, 4 Ireland (L Seaman, M O’Donovan, L Keane, S O’Driscoll) 6:16.00.

Women

Pair – C Final (places 13 to 16): 1 Norway One 7:22.74, 2 Ukraine 7:23.16, 3 Ireland (L Kennedy, B O’Brien) 7:33.07.  

Lightweight Double Sculls – C Final (places 13 to 17): 1 Ireland (C Lambe, S Jennings) 7:17.24, 2 Italy Three 7:26.29, 3 Chile 7:29.71.  

Lightweight Single Sculls – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Poland Two 7:49.90, 2 Switzerland One 7:51.76; 5 Ireland Two (S McCrohan) 8:04.69, 6 Ireland One (D Walsh) 8:08.81

#Rowing: A horde of Irish records fell at the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships at the University of Limerick today. Sanita Puspure set a new time for the women’s open category of 6 minutes 36.7 seconds. The second fastest time was also a record, as 17-year-old Emily Hegarty clocked 6:57.0, lopping over two  seconds off the old junior record set by Lisa Dilleen. Claire Lambe’s time of 7 minutes 12.6 seconds was a new Irish record for a lightweight woman.

  Paul O’Donovan set an excellent time for the lightweight under-23 category – 6:07.5 – over two seconds better than his previous personal best. His brother and soon-to-be Olympic crewmate, Gary, had been the fastest in the open lightweight section, with a time of 6:14.6. The men’s junior 18 category was won by Cathal Cummins in a new Irish record of 6:16.2. Sam McKeown’s hopes of breaking six minutes in the men’s open category fell short, though his time of 6:02.9 was 1.8 seconds better than his previous best.

 Other record breakers on the day included Paul Gallen (lightweight men, 60 to 69), Niall O’Brien (open, 50-59), Priscilla O’Sullivan (women’s open, 50-59) and Catherine McKeon (pararowing, legs trunk and arms).

Irish Indoor Rowing Championships, University of Limerick, Saturday (Selected Results)

Men

Open: 1 S McKeown 6:02.9, 2 T Oliver 6:03.2, 3 P Buchanan 6:09.6, 4 P Doyle 6:10.7, 5 D Brown 6:13.0, 6 K Coughlan 6:13.1. Under-23: 1 J Casey 6:18.3, 2 D Mitchell 6:18.5, 3 P Munnelly 6:19.7. Junior 18: 1 C Cummins 6:16.2, 2 R Byrne 6:16.7, 3 D Lynch 6:18.3. Jun 16: R Tummon 6:38.2.

Lightweight – Open: 1 G O’Donovan 6:14.6, 2 M O’Donovan 6:18.0, 3 S O’Driscoll 6:18.8, 4 L Keane 6:24.8.

Under-23: 1 P O’Donovan 6:07.5, 2 S Mulvaney 6:21.8, 3 L Seaman 6:25.7

Pararowing – LTA (1,000m): S Ryan 3.30.6.

Women

Open: 1 S Puspure 6:36.7, 2 M Dukarska 6:58.9, 3 L Kennedy 7:01.9, 4 A Keogh 7:06.1, 5 S Bennett 7:13.8, 6 R Maguire 7:15.0. Under-23: 1 S Bounane 7:16.8, 2 E Lambe 7:18.6, 3 S Murphy 7:30.1. Junior 18: E Hegarty 6:57.0, 2 H Scott 7:20.7, 3 M Cremin 7:23.6. Jun 16: C Nic Dhonncha 7:35.6.

Lightweight – Open: 1 C Lambe 7:12.6, 2 Sarah Dolan 7:17.0, 3 S McCrohan 7:18.4. Under-23: E McGiff 7:41.9.

Pararowing – LTA (1,000m): C McKeon 3:37.1.

 Best Overall Club (Eddie Crean Trophy): St Joseph’s, Galway