#Rowing: Paul and Gary O’Donovan qualified for the A Final of their fourth major regatta this season when they finished third in their semi-final at the World Cup in Lucerne. They reached the top stage in World Cup regattas in Belgrade and Poznan and at the European Championships.

Italy took the risky strategy of setting off very fast in the hope of leading all the way. It worked, and they won. The Czech Republic, Ireland and Russia were their main rivals until the final quarter, when, as the Russians faded in the hot conditions, the Czechs and Ireland nailed down the second and third spots. Britain’s Jamie Copus and Sam Mottram pushed to pass Ireland but could not.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi Final One: 1 France 6:20.57, 2 Belgium 6:24.68, 3 Greece 6:26.92.

Semi Final Two: 1 Italy 6:20.82, 2 Czech Republic 6:22.05, 3 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:23.75; 4 Britain 6:25.25, 5 Japan Two 6:27.84, 6 Russia 6:34.33.

Women

Single Sculls Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) – Semi Final One: 1 Austria (M Lobnig) 7:35.06, 2 Germany (A Thiele) 7:35.96, 3 Britain (V Thornley) 7:36.09; 4 Ireland One (S Puspure) 7:36.90; 6 Ireland Two (M Dukarska) 7:55.0.

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan won their repechage to qualify for the semi-finals of the lightweight double sculls at the World Cup Regatta in Lucerne today. The Skibbereen men had not intended to be in the race – run in very hot conditions – but they judged it well, taking out both Russia and Denmark in the final 200 metres.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Exhibition Race: 1 Britain (J Cassells, S Scrimgeour) 6:57.32, 2 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:59.26, 3 Brazil 6:59.29.

Lightweight Double Sculls (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 France 6:27.36, 2 Britain One 6:30.70. Heat Two: 1 Greece 6:25.88, 2 Czech Republic 6:26.39; 3 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:28.63. Heat Three: 1 Italy 6:29.15, 2 Belgium 6:32.44.

Repechage One (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C Final): 1 Ireland 6:44.33, 2 Denmark 6:45.71, 3 Russia 6:45.91.

Women

Single Sculls (Three to Quarter-Finals; rest to quarters or E Final) – Heat Three: 1 Austria (M Lobnig) 7:46.97, 2 Ireland Two (M Dukarska) 7:51.44, 3 Latvia (E Gulbe) 8:02.20.

Heat Five: 1 Britain (V Thornley) 7:45.65, 2 Ireland One (S Puspure) 7:47.84, 3 Finland (E Karppinen) 7:58.04.

Quarter-Finals (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals): QF One: 1 Ireland (Puspure) 7:52.50, 2 United States (F Mueller) 7:53.39,

3 Belarus (E Karsten) 7:59.13.

QF Three: 1 Canada (C Zeeman) 7:57.04, 2 Germany (A Thiele) 8:01.51, 3 Ireland (Dukarska) 8:03.64.

#Rowing: Ireland’s Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan finished third in their heat and must come through a repechage if they are to qualify for the semi-finals of the lightweight double sculls at the World Cup Regatta in Lucerne.

Just two crews qualified directly and the Ireland crew trailed Greece and the Czech Republic through the four quarters of the race. With 250 metres to go the men in green looked set to take out at least one of the two, but both powered on and Ireland, stuck in third, faded back coming up to the line.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 France 6:27.36, 2 Britain One 6:30.70.

Heat Two: 1 Greece 6:25.88, 2 Czech Republic 6:26.39; 3 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:28.63.

Heat Three: 1 Italy 6:29.15, 2 Belgium 6:32.44.

Women

Single Sculls (Three to Quarter-Finals; rest to quarters or E Final) – Heat Three: 1 Austria (M Lobnig) 7:46.97, 2 Ireland Two (M Dukarska) 7:51.44, 3 Latvia (E Gulbe) 8:02.20.

Heat Five: 1 Britain (V Thornley) 7:45.65, 2 Ireland One (S Puspure) 7:47.84, 3 Finland (E Karppinen) 7:58.04.

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan set a new personal best as a  single sculler at Cork Regatta today. The Skibbereen sculler won the Division One A Final in six minutes 50.819 seconds. Gary O’Donovan was 13 seconds further back in sunny conditions with a cross-tailwind.

Sanita Puspure pulled out of the women’s single sculls final, but she had already won the heat, beating Monika Dukarska by six seconds. Dukarska won the final.

Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll beat Shane Mulvaney and David O’Malley by 3.4 seconds after a good race in the men’s pair.

Cork Regatta, National Rowing Centre, Day One (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Div Two – A Final: 1 UCD B (club two) 6:22.449, 2 Shandon (jun 16) 6:36.97; 4 Trinity (nov) 6:41.7.

Four – Div One, coxed – A Final: 1 NUIG (inter) 6:22.49; 4 UCD B (sen) 6:28.46; 6 Neptune (jun 18A) 6:38.53.

Pair – Div Two – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (sen) 6:36.43; B Final: 2 Cork (jun 18A) 7:03.17. C Final: 5 Neptune A (club one) 7:16.46.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Div One – A Final: 1 UCC, UCD, Skibbereen (sen) 5:57.88; 2 Three Castles (jun 18A) 6:11.99. B Final: UCC (club one) 6:38.49.

Double – Div Two – A Final: 1 Shandon (jun 18B) 6:57.74; 3 Waterford (club two) 7:04.61; 4 Castleconnell A (jun 16) 7:11.77.

Single – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (P O’Donovan; sen) 6:50.82. B Final: 3 Shandon (D Begley; inter) 7:19.11; 4 Castelconnell (J Quinlan; jun 18A)

Women

Eight – Div Two – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (club two) 6:54.5; 5 Trinity (nov) 7:21.92; 6 St Michael’s (jun 16) 7:26.8.

Four, coxed – Div One – A Final: 1 Cork (sen) 7:22.85, 2 NUIG (club one) 7:27.0; 4 Shannon (inter) 7:36.13.

Pair – Div One – A Final: UCC/UCD (sen) 7:35.97; 5 Trinity B (inter) 7:53.23. B Final: Lee (jun 18A) 8:00.457. C Final: Belfast BC (club one) 8:08.607.

Sculling, Quadruple Div One - A Final: Lee (Jun 18A) 6:50.22

Div Two – A Final: 1 Shandon (club two) 7:28.86, 2 Castleconnell (jun 16) 7:31.09; 5 Shandon (jun 18B) 7:54.69.

Double – Div Two – A Final: 1 Carlow (jun 16) 7:44.19; 5 Graiguenamanagh (jun 18B) 8:17.88; 6 Killorglin (club two) 8:23.69.

Single – Div One – A Final: 1 Killorglin (M Dukarska; sen) 7:40.23; 3 Skibbereen (A Casey; jun 18A) 7:56.17; 4 Skibbereen (O Hayes; lwt) 7:59.73. C Final: 2 Skibbereen (L Heaphy; inter) 8:11.60; 6 Garda (J Ryan; club one) 8:44.57.

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan took a silver medal at the World Cup Regatta in Poland this morning. The Ireland lightweight double took second in an exciting race. France led from early on and were never headed. Ireland came from sixth to hold second by 1500 metres – but coming up to the line they came under severe pressure from China and Poland, who took the bronze.

World Cup Regatta, Poznan, Poland, Day Three (Selected results; Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 France (P Houin, J Azou) 6:12.40, 2 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:15.33, 3 Poland (J Kowalski, M Janknowski) 6:15.90; 4 China One 6:16.17, 5 Germany 6:17.67, 6 Japan Two 6:17.99.

Women

Pair – B Final: 1 United States 7:22.54, 2 Ireland (A Keogh, A Crowley) 7:30.09.

Single Sculls – B Final: 1 Ireland One (S Puspure) 7:28.79, 2 United States Two (M O’Leary) 7:29.35, 3 Ireland Two (M Dukarska) 7:32.34; 4 Germany Two 7:36.36, 5 United States One 7:37.43, 6 Austria Two 7:40.21.

#Rowing: On a wonderful day for Irish rowing, Paul and Gary O’Donovan produced a trademark burning finish to take Ireland’s third medal – silver – at the European Championships in Racice in the Czech Republic.

France showed their familiar control to take gold, while the O’Donovans moved through the field to take out Britain, Poland and then win a sprint with Italy for silver.

The day had started with a gold medal for Mark O'Donovan and Shane O'Driscoll in the lightweight pair and a silve for Denise Walsh in the women's lightweight single.

European Rowing Championships, Day Three (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – A Final: 1 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:32.34, 2 Russia 6:34.74, 3 Italy 6:34.89; 4 Britain (J Cassells, S Scrimgeour) 6:39.75.

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 France 6:17.67, 2 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:20.06, 3 Italy 6:20.36.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Sweden (E Fredh) 7:36.24, 2 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:38.00, 3 Switzerland (P Merz) 7:39.94.

#Rowing: Paul and Gary O’Donovan won their repechage to secure a place in the semi-finals of the lightweight double sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Racice today. The Irish crew did not start well, but by halfway they were making their move and they led through the second half of the race. As they passed the grandstand, they came under pressure from the Ukraine, but they held firm and won by a length.

European Championships, Racice, Czech Republic, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Exhibition (Race for Lanes): 1 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:57.77, 2 Italy 6:59.82, 3 Russia 7:01.75, 4 Britain (J Cassells, S Scrimgeour) 7:03.39.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heats (Winner to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages) – Heat One: 1 France (P Houin, J Azou) 6:26.97. Heat Two: Germany (L Schaefer, J Osborne) 6:37.53.

Heat Three: 1 Poland 6:25.93, 2 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:32.15, 3 Russia 6:36.38, 4 Switzerland 6:40.60, 5 Austria. Heat Four: 1 Italy 6:30.77.

Repechage Three (First two to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Ireland 6:34.33, 2 Ukraine 6:36.51; 3 Portugal 6:40.75, 4 Sweden 7:05.89.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat One (First Three to Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:44.85, 2 Denmark (A Runge Holmegaard) 7:49.49, 3 Poland (J Dorociak) 7:49.90; 4 Czech Republic 8:05.07, 5 Portugal 8:08.19. Heat Two: 1 Switzerland 7:42.510. Heat Three: 1 Sweden 7:39.52.

#Rowing: Paul and Gary O’Donovan took fourth place in the A Final of the lightweight double sculls at the World Cup Regatta in Belgrade today. The British crew of Peter Chambers and Will Fletcher took the race on from the start and led by a length at half way.

They come under pressure from the Czech Republic and Ireland in the second half, but in a scrambling finish the British held on for gold, with the Czechs second and Poland holding off Ireland for bronze.

World Cup Regatta, Belgrade (Selected results; Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Final: 1 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:46.65, 2 Russia 6:47.67, 3 Britain (J Cassells, S Scrimgeour) 6:48.40.

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 Britain (P Chambers, W Fletcher) 6:25.67, 2 Czech Republic 6:26.27, 3 Poland 6:26.63; 4 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:27.12, 5 Netherlands One 6:32.83, 6 Spain 6:38.41.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Switzerland (P Merz) 7:52.30, 2 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:56.24, 3 Poland (J Dorociak) 7:59.22.

#Rowing: The Ireland lightweight double scull of Paul and Gary O’Donovan won their semi-final at the World Cup Regatta in Belgrade today. In a race run in rainy conditions, the crews were closely-packed in the early part of the race, with Ireland taking a marginal lead by halfway. But then the O’Donovans moved and the race from there was about who would take second and third and join Ireland in the A Final. The Netherlands and Spain did the business to stay in the hunt for medals.

Britain’s Will Fletcher and Peter Chambers won the other semi-final in a fast time.

World Cup Regatta, Belgrade, Day Two (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Lightweight Pair, Exhibition Race (Contest for Lanes): 1 Britain (J Cassells, S Scrimgeour) 6:39.30, 2 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:41.61, 3 Russia 6:43.42, 4 Hungary 7:06.15.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Finals (Three to A Final; rest to B Final). Semi-Final One: 1 Britain (P Chambers, W Fletcher) 6:23.98, 2 Poland 6:25.85, 3 Czech Republic 6:26.34.

Semi-Final Two (Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:30.70, 2 Netherlands 6:32.26, 3 Spain 6:33.89.

Women

Single Sculls – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Britain (V Thornley) 7:39.32, 2 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:42.17; 3 Belarus Three 7:46.28, 4 Belarus Two 7:28.26, 5 Czech Republic 7:52.49.

#Rowing: Paul and Gary O’Donovan won their heat and qualified directly for the A/B Semi-Finals at the World Cup Regatta in Belgrade this morning. As they often do, the UCD/Skibbereen duo won it in a sprint finish, overtaking the Czech Republic coming up to the line to win by six hundredths of a second. The Czechs and the Netherlands One had disputed the lead through the race, but the O’Donovans tracked them and drew on their remarkable finishing speed to win in six minutes 29.03 seconds.

Peter Chambers and Will Fletcher of Britain won the second heat in a time of six minutes 35.22 seconds.

World Cup Regatta, Belgrade Serbia, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Pair – Heat Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Britain 6:42.81, Netherlands 6:46.34, 3 Spain 6:50.69; 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:53.50.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Three (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:29.03, 2 Czech Republic 6:29.09; 3 Netherlands One 6:38.69

Heat Two: 1 Britain (P Chambers, W Fletcher) 6:35.22.

Women

Single Sculls – Heat Two (Winner to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Austria (M Lobnig) 7:49.47; 2 Belarus (E Karsten) 7:51.74, 3 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:53.20.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Two (First Two to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:07.51, 2 Poland (J Dorociak) 8:08.22; 3 Switzerland Two 8:11.65.