PAUL O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy will race at the 2025 World Rowing Cup in Lucerne this weekend – but the back-to-back Olympic champions are in different boats.
In fact, the Skibbereen rowers will compete against each other.
Together, Paul and Fintan dominated the world of lightweight rowing, but as they dip their oars into the heavyweight water, there are no guarantees they’ll continue their medal-winning partnership.
At the final regatta in this year’s World Rowing Cup series – the showpiece Lucerne regatta runs from Friday, 27th to Sunday, 29th – Fintan and Paul have been named in different Irish men’s doubles.
Like at the recent European Rowing Championships Fintan will team up again with Konan Pazzaia (Queen’s University Belfast Boat Club) – they won a bronze medal together in Bulgaria. Paul, meanwhile, in his first event of the year, will partner Daire Lynch (UCD Boat Club) in another Irish men’s double. All eyes will be on a possible showdown between the two Irish boats.
Elsewhere, Skibbereen Rowing Club’s Aisling Hayes will again race in the Irish women’s quad that made its debut at the recent Europeans.
Hayes and Claire Feerick (Neptune Rowing Club/Oxford Brookes), Imogen Magner (Lee Valley Rowing Club) and Natalie Long (Lee Valley Rowing Club) will look to build on their first-ever regatta together.
Also, Bantry Rowing Club’s Sadhbh Ní Laoghaire will team up with Tiernan O’Donnell (Lee Rowing Club) in a para-rowing PR2 mixed double; they will compete in the PR3 category for classification purposes.
This World Cup regatta offers the ideal challenge for Irish rowers ahead of the World Rowing Championships in Shanghai in September.
‘Lucerne is one of the standout events in the rowing calendar,’ explained Dominic Casey, the Skibbereen man who is Rowing Ireland High Performance lead coach.
‘The squad selected brings together a mix of youth and experience, and it’s a key opportunity for us to benchmark against world-class crews as we look ahead to the next major test.’
Skibbereen Rowing Club’s Denise Walsh is also part of the coaching staff, while TJ Ryan is the driver.
