FINTAN McCarthy has made an encouraging start to life as a heavyweight rower.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist is linking up Konan Pazzaia in the men’s double sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria where they finished second in their heat on Thursday morning.
Fintan and Konan delivered a strong performance, finishing second with a time of 06:09.69 to qualify for the A/B semi-final. They maintained a composed and competitive race, holding off a late challenge from the Norwegian crew in the final 200 metres. They are into the semi-final on Friday morning (8:42am IST, lane 5)
Fintan’s twin brother Jake McCarthy secured a place in the A final of the lightweight men’s single sculls with a second-place finish in his heat, clocking a time of 07:03.84. Jack will be back in action on Saturday morning (10:09am IST, lane 5)
Aisling Hayes is the third Skibbereen Rowing Club athlete in action at the Europeans. She is with the newly formed women’s quadruple sculls crew that made history as the first Irish women’s quad to race at an international regatta. Facing the reigning Olympic and world champions in a challenging heat, the Irish quad finished fifth and qualified for the B final on Sunday morning (7:30am IST, lane 4).
