‘SOMETIMES, it’s like we’re siblings,’ says Emily Hegarty with a laugh, when asked what it’s like to share a boat with one of her best friends, Aoife Casey.
‘Whenever there is any sort of tiff or anything, it's left on the water. We get on really well and we're both quite easy to work with.’
That familiarity and friendship helped them slip seamlessly back into the Rowing Ireland set-up after their post-Paris break, impressing straight away in trials ahead of the 2025 World Rowing Championships.
‘It’s almost as if we took no time off,’ says Emily, who will share the Irish women’s pair with Aoife at the Worlds in Shanghai, which start this Sunday (21st to 28th).
Their rowing stories are interlinked. Both Emily and Aoife – ten months apart in age, with Emily the oldest – hail from the same parish of Aughadown, and both learned to row and race at Skibbereen Rowing Club. Now based in London for their studies, they’ll even share a house when college resumes in October.
They’re trailblazers too: the first Skibbereen women to compete at the Olympics, with Emily making history as the club’s first female Olympic medallist, winning bronze in the women’s four in Tokyo.
But while both raced in the Tokyo and Paris Olympics at different weights – Emily in heavyweight, Aoife as a lightweight – they had started their Ireland rowing journey together.
‘We raced together for two years as juniors, in 2015 and 2016, in a double. We raced at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in 2015, and then the World Junior Rowing Championships the year after,’ Emily explains.
‘Obviously, we went off on our own different journeys then, but it’s come full circle now,’ she adds, as Aoife steps into the heavyweight world after lightweight rowing was dropped from the Olympic schedule.
‘We blend in so well together and get on so well, on and off the water. We share a lot of the same opinions about rowing, too.’
They’ve already shared plenty of memories together. A few years ago on these pages, Aoife handpicked her favourite five races – winning silver alongside Emily at the 2015 Coupe made her list.
‘There’s a lot of nostalgia attached to that regatta,’ Aoife said. ‘Just think back to that summer and how much we trained for the Coupe; heading out to the rowing club after school for training every evening, how hard we trained, how excited we were. What made it so special was I was in a double with one of my best friends.’
Now, they are back in a boat together, and ready to take on the World. After the Paris Olympics, Emily’s plan was to step onto dryland for a period, and enjoy life outside of rowing. The 27-year-old started a postgraduate in physiotherapy at King's College London. Her flat overlooks the Shard – a striking contrast to home in Mohonagh – but the change is working out.
‘I definitely needed a bit of a break and a bit of a change of scenery,’ she explains.
‘I found going back to college in Cork quite tough after the Tokyo Olympics, whereas moving to London was a completely fresh start. It was a good change, and just what I needed. I really enjoy life over there.’
With Aoife also making the move – she is studying for a Masters in Bioscience, Innovation and Enterprise at University College London – perhaps it’s not surprising that these two Skibbereen rowing juggernauts teamed up together at the University of London Boat Club. Importantly, it was at their own pace.
‘Last November, Christmas-time, we went back training, but it was a lot more relaxed than it would have been. We were having a bit more of a college experience,’ Emily says.
‘We did all the races with the college up until the Henley Regatta, where we were in four in the open category with two other girls. From there, I finished off with my placement and came back to do the (Rowing Ireland) trials for the Worlds.
‘I had always intended on giving the trials a go, and just see what happens. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if I didn't get a seat – that was the attitude I approached it with. I didn’t take the past year as seriously as previous years, so there was no great expectation.
‘We did quite well at the trials, were happy with the result, got selected – and here we are!’
Also this summer, Emily and Aoife teamed up in Skibbereen colours to win the senior pair title at the 2025 Irish Rowing Championships, this success coming ten years after they won the junior double together in 2015. You see, their stories are intertwined, but what happens next?
We’re in the post-Olympic year, but thoughts are already turning to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles – will Emily put her oar in the water for a seat in a boat?
‘Right now I'm taking it year by year,’ she says.
‘I have another year left studying in London and I’m looking forward to that – we start back two days after we come home from Worlds. Once I graduate from London, I can decide what’s next, whether I want to stay rowing or stay over there for a while. I’ll make a proper call on it this time next year.’
The immediate focus is on these World Rowing Championships and the opportunity to compete at the highest level with one of her best friends.
From school evenings on the River Ilen to the world stage in Shanghai, Emily and Aoife are back in the same boat – siblings in sport, still chasing big moments together.
