#Rowing: Sanita Puspure and two Ireland men’s crews took medals on the first day of the Memorial Paolo d’Aloja in Italy today. Puspure is world champion in the single sculls and she continued her run with a good win.

 The men’s double of Ronan Byrne and Philip Doyle were another success story from the World Championships in 2018 – they finished ninth. They took third place in their A Final, which was won by Romania.

 The bronze medal for Jake and Fintan McCarthy came in a lightweight doubles final won by Italy, with Belgium second – these crews took silver and bronze at last year’s World Championships.

 The Ireland pairs of Aifric Keogh and Monika Dukarska and Aileen Crowley and Emily Hegarty took fifth and seventh in their final.

 Lough Rinn Grand League Regatta, scheduled for tomorrow (Sunday), has been cancelled. The organisers had hoped to hold the event, and told clubs that some racing would not go ahead. But after receiving a forecast from Met Éireann of a powerful, gusting wind, they changed their decision.    

Memorial Paolo d’Aloja, Piediluco, Italy, Saturday Finals (Irish results; selected)

Men

Double – A Final: 3 P Doyle, R Byrne 6:33.90.

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 3 F McCarthy, J McCarthy 6:38.43.

Women

Pair – A Final: 5 A Keogh, M Dukarska 7:33.3; 7 A Crowley, E Hegarty 7:42.36. B Final: 3 C Feerick, E Lambe 7:45.41.

Lightweight Double – A Final: 6 C Nolan, L Heaphy 7:48.91.

Single – A Final: 1 S Puspure 7:58.89.

#Rowing: An Ireland heavyweight four of Mark O’Donovan, Fionnan Crowley, Andy Harrington and Shane O’Driscoll got its first outing in the second session of the Ireland Trials on Saturday. Their test against Ronan Byrne and Philip Doyle – who did have a handicap of 15 seconds – ended with a victory for the double.

The pair of Monika Dukarska and Aifric Keogh got a battle from the junior double of Molly Curry and Rhiannon O’Donoghue, in a race won by lightweight single sculler Fintan McCarthy.

At the London Head of the River, provisional rankings placed Commercial’s senior eight 20^th.

#Rowing: The double of Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne performed brilliantly for Ireland last year, culminating with a ninth-place finish at he World Championships. They took up where they left off at the the Ireland Trial at the National Rowing Centre today. The heavyweight crew beat the lightweight double of Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy in a fine race in the first session. McCarthy and O’Donovan had never raced together before, but still finished well and were just over four seconds behind Doyle and Byrne in dead calm conditions.

Some of the contests in this first of two sessions were handicapped to produce good racing and it worked. Sanita Puspure did not win her race but had a very good time, while the pair of Aifric Keogh and Monika Dukarska won in another impressive time.

The new junior coxed four of John Kearney, Jack Dorney, James O’Donovan and Matthew Gallagher, with cox Leah O’Regan were just pipped in their race – but again excelled in terms of time for this boat.

One of the more interesting crews to be trialled was the senior four of Eimear Lambe, Aileen Crowley, Emily Hegarty and Claire Feerick. Another four was to be trialled in the second session. This opens up a possibility of a single, a pair and a four going forward on the women’s heavyweight side.

The combination of Rory O’Neill of Castleconnell and Finn O’Reilly of Skibbereen were the top men’s junior double.

#Rowing: Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne took ninth in the world in the men’s double at the World Rowing Championships here in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The Ireland crew finished third in their B Final behind the Netherlands and Poland. They tucked in behind those duelling crews – there was only .35 of a second between them on the line. Ireland did push up to try to break into the top two but finished more than a boat length behind them, but well clear of the other three crews.

World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Day Eight (Irish interest):

Men

Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Netherlands 6:05.10, 2 Poland 6:05.10, 3 Ireland (P Doyle, R Byrne) 6:08.81.

Women

Double Sculls – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Ireland (M Dukarska, A Crowley) 6:54.55, 2 Chile 6:57.29, 3 Italy 6:58.17.

#Rowing: Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne had a remarkable win in their repechage at the World Rowing Championships here in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The new Ireland double shot away from the start and opened a clearwater lead over all five of their opponents. Russia and then, over the second half of the race, pushed up but could never catch the Irish, who won by over three seconds.

World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Day Five (Irish interest)

Men

Double Sculls – Repechage Four (First Two to A/B Semi-Final): Ireland (P Doyle, R Byrne) 6:16.96, 2 Bulgaria 6:20.15.

#Rowing: Ireland’s Ronan Byrne and Philip Doyle produced a fine performance in their first competitive race together at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The Ireland double were up against it in their heat, with just one crew going directly to the A/B Semi-Finals. New Zealand’s John Storey and Chris Harris made that theirs, using the fast conditions well. Italy and Ireland looked set to battle it out for second, but Doyle and Byrne opened up in the second half of the race and were well clear in second at the line.

 Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll finished a disappointing fifth in the men’s pairs heat and will have to compete in a repechage to make the quarter-finals. Canada were impressive winners from South Africa and France, with Ireland and Belarus vying for the crucial fourth place and direct qualification. Ireland had a slight advantage with 500 metres to go, but the Belarussians wrested back the lead and had almost a second to spare crossing the line.

 The women’s pair of Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty qualified from their heat for the semi-finals, finishing second.

World Rowing Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Pair – Heat Four (First Four to Quarter-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada 6:20.46, 2 South Africa 6:21.85, 3 France 6:25.43, 4 Belarus 6:28.22; 5 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:29.10

Double Sculls – Heat One (Winner to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechages): 1 New Zealand 6:02.23; 2 Ireland (P Doyle, R Byrne) 6:12.61

Women

Pair – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechage): 1 New Zealand 6:56.06, 2 Ireland (A Keogh, E Hegarty) 7:11.51, 3 United States 7:13.02.

#Rowing: Philip Doyle finished third in the C Final of the men’s single sculls at the World Cup Regatta in Lucerne this morning. The Queen’s University man led until the final quarter when Campbell Watts of Australia and Brian Rosso of Argentina got past him to take first and second. Doyle places 15^th in his first regatta at this level in one of the toughest disciplines.

Earlier, Patrick Boomer and Andy Harrington had taken fifth in the D Final of the pairs.

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

Men

Pair – D Final (Places 19 to 24): 1 Poland 6:40.95; 5 Ireland (P Boomer, A Harrington) 6:53.83.

Single Sculls – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Australia 6:58.52, 2 Argentina 6:59.65, 3 Ireland (P Doyle) 7:00.39.

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan won their heat to qualify directly for the semi-finals at the World Cup Regatta in Lucerne. The Ireland lightweight double scull took the lead from the start. They led Poland at halfway, but the Poles, who beat Ireland in the first World Cup in Belgrade, then took over. Austria pushed into the top three and these boats fought it out for two places. Ireland showed they had the speed in the dash to the line – and it was Poland who lost out, taking third.

 Philip Doyle qualified for the quarter-finals of the single sculls with third place in his heat. Mahe Drysdale, the Olympic champion, was the likely winner, but Doyle led through the 500 metre mark. The big New Zealander took over and won. Sverri Nielsen of Denmark took second and Doyle was just behind him.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Day One (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Pair – Heat Two (First Four to Quarter-Final; rest to Quarter-Final or E Final): 1 Spain 6:40.29; 3 Ireland Two (P Boomer, P Harrington) 6:45.74

Heat Six (First Three to Quarter-Final; rest to Quarter-Final or E Final): 1 Croatia 6:37.66, 2 Ireland One (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:40.95.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat One (First two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:17.43, 2 Austria 6:17.79; 3 Poland 6:17.91.  

Single Sculls – Heat One (First Four to Quarter-Final; rest to Quarter-Final or E Final): 1 New Zealand (M Drysdale) 6:52.98; 3 Ireland (P Doyle) 6:55.18.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada 7:13.98; 6 Ireland (A Keogh, T Hanlon) 7:32.49.

Double Sculls – Heat Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 United States 6:58.58, 2 Ireland (A Crowley, M Dukarska) 7:03.05.

Single Sculls – Heat One (First to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechages): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:26.51; 2 United States 7:40.98.

#Rowing: The standard was high at the second session of the Ireland Trial at the National Rowing Centre in Cork. Patrick Boomer and Andy Harrington again tested Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan in the pair – this time the margin was just 1.3 seconds – and Sanita Puspure came in under seven minutes 40 seconds in another outstanding performance in the single sculls.

There was an all-Skibbereen shootout in the lightweight doubles: twins Jake and Fintan McCarthy, who are just 21, came in just 2.8 seconds behind Paul and Gary O’Donovan.

Margaret Cremen teamed up with Denise Walsh to produce a fast lightweight double, while Monika Dukarsa and Aileen Crowley formed a heavyweight double which also produced a good performance. Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty formed a pair which also bettered 90 per cent of projected world best time.

A second configuration of the men’s junior quad did very well, while the women’s junior double from Workmen’s again produced one of the best performances of the day.

#Rowing: Queen’s University won the Championships Quadruple at the BUCS Regatta in Nottingham today. The crew of Nathan Hull, Sam McKeown, Philip Doyle and Tiernan Oliver beat Reading into second and Oxford Brookes into third. The Queen’s women’s Beginners’ eight took silver in their race.

BUCS Regatta, Nottingham (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Sculling, Quadruple – Championship: 1 Queen’s (N Hull, S McKeown, P Doyle, T Oliver) 6:05.57, 2 Reading 6:08.22, 3 Oxford Brookes 6:10.22.

Women

Eight – Beginners’: 1 Edinburgh 7:15.28, 2 Queen’s 7:24.25.