All Irish rowers have their own different beginnings.
When Paul O’Donovan was seven years-old his father Teddy took him down to Skibbereen Rowing club on the banks of the River Ilen, which he’d helped nurture for years and hoped maybe someday might be put on the world rowing map.
Now 22 years later O’Donovan has 13 rowing championship medals, including Olympic gold and silver, six World Championship gold, plus three European gold and two silver – the latest coming in Belgrade this weekend when scoring at hat-trick of World titles in the lightweight double sculls alongside Fintan McCarthy.
And he’s not done yet.
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When Siobhán McCrohan was four years-old her father Mike took her down to the Tribesmen Rowing Club in the heart of Galway, where for many years the River Corrib was her playground.
Later rowing internationally, McCrohan then drifted away from the sport through injury or loss of form, until this weekend in Belgrade, where are at age 36 she won her first rowing championship medal, gold in the women’s lightweight single sculls.
“I could not stay away any longer,” McCrohan said after of moment of triumph, after leaving her job in aeronautical engineering last October.
When Ross Corrigan was 15 years-old, he joined his local Enniskillen Royal Boat Club because he was trying to impress a girl who was already a club member. Turns out he didn’t mind the rowing either; nine years later, he has a World Championship bronze in the men’s pair along with Nathan Timoney, a year his junior, who also started out in Enniskillen.
Corrigan and Timoney were actually in front at the 1,000m mark, with the Swiss and Great British pair in hot pursuit. The Swiss only got ahead going into the last 500, winning in 6:51.09, before an exceptional sprint by the British just edged out the Irish, 6:53.46 to 6:54.22.
“The competition is on now,” Corrigan said after Saturday’s medal win. “We’re on the podium today and we’re here to stay. For us obviously, we’re going to be delighted with bronze now but heads are going to go down next season and we’ll push on.”
Hopes that the women’s pair of Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh might be able to match that feat fell just short, the Dutch crew utterly dominant ahead of Australia and Romania, the Irish still finishing strong in fourth.
Not to be outdone by the bravery of the men’s pair, Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch went into the final of the men’s double sculls on Sunday with the chance of bringing Ireland’s medal tally to four – which they did, winning another bronze.
Another new partnership this season, in one of the headline events, Doyle and Lynch summoned quite startling power and speed to move into third in the last 500m, finishing behind Dutch giants Melvan Twellaar and Stefan Broenink and the legendary Sinkovic brothers, Martain and Valent, from Croatia.
“It’s the programme,” the 30 year-old Doyle explained. “Everyone trains so fiercely against each other. The men’s pair yesterday, I mean was the main reason why . . . we weren’t coming home with anything less than they got. So we said last night, if they got one, we had to get one.”
Doyle, a 30 year-old old doctor now based in Cork, is well used to this level of competition having already competed in Tokyo, describing his return to this boat this as “redemption”. Along with Lynch, the 25-year-old who recently graduated from Yale University, they also now unquestionably medal prospects in Paris next summer.
The Ada Ciganlija regatta course on Sava Lake, in the heart of the Serbian capital, was blessed by perfect conditions for the final session. Hopes for a fifth Irish medal, in the women’s double sculls, fell short as Alison Bergin and Zoe Hyde were unable to break into top three positions, finishing a close fourth, just over two seconds behind the USA, with Romania the convincing winners.
For O’Donovan and McCarthy, any concern over their form after losing their last World Cup in Lucerne in July, evaporated on Sava Lake over the course of the week.
Old rivals Jan Schaeuble and Raphael Ahumada Ireland from Switzerland did manage to open up some daylight in the first 750m, the Ireland crew back in fourth, before they promptly turned on the power, the Skibbereen pair winning by just under a boat length in 6:32.09, ahead of the Swiss (6:34.34) and Italy (6:34.77).
“I was just focusing on the rhythm,” said McCarthy. “We had a really good performance, and nice to be up there again.”
O’Donovan also paid tribute to that team spirit and support: “It’s definitely a strong team showing. All you can hear is the Irish. We were boating just as the men’s pair were about 600 metres from the finish line and all you can hear is the Irish shouting, nobody else.”
Ireland finished with six boats qualified for Paris: the men’s and women’s pair, men’s and women’s double sculls, and men’s and women’s lightweight double sculls. Katie O’Brien and Steven McGowan also qualified the Para-2 mixed double for next year’s Paralympics. The last chance for all crews to book their places in Paris comes at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, next May 19th-21st.
