FINTAN McCarthy has certainly packed a punch in his first year at heavyweight level, to such an extent that he has been power ranked as the number one men’s rower in the world.

The Skibbereen man has powered to the top of row2k’s rankings for the top 15 men’s rowers in the world.

These rankings are based on results at Olympic and World Championship regattas, with scoring regattas including the two most recent Olympics (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024) and the World Championships in between (2022-2025).

When the scores are totalled, McCarthy (28) has moved from number two in the 2024 rankings up to top spot, replacing the chart-topper from the past three years, Paul O’Donovan, who has had a quieter season, with work commitments as a doctor at the Mater Hospital in Dublin taking precedence.

So, for the past four years, row2k’s best men’s rower in the world has been a Skibbereen man, highlighting the quality and success of West Cork’s finest.

Fintan McCarthy and Mags Cremen on their way to mixed double scull glory at the Worlds. (Photo: Benedict Tufnell/Sportsfile)

O’Donovan and McCarthy formed the all-conquering Irish men’s double sculls that swept to two Olympic gold medals (Tokyo and Paris), but with lightweight rowing dropped from the Games for Los Angeles 2028, heavyweight offers the Skibb men a route to the next Olympics.

In this post-Olympic year, which can be tricky to navigate, McCarthy wasted no time in showing that he can hold his own with the heavyweights.

In his first regatta at this new weight, the European Rowing Championships in May, the Skibb man partnered Konan Pazzaia to a bronze medal in the men's double sculls. This was McCarthy’s first heavyweight medal, and more followed. The same pairing won a bronze medal at World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne in the summer – that made it two medals in two regattas. The success didn’t stop there.

Fintan McCarthy and Philip Doyle celebrate winning World bronze. (Photo: Detlev Seyb/INPHO)

At the World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, Fintan and Philip Doyle, a new pairing, rowed to a brilliant bronze medal in the men’s double sculls.

There was more glory to come, as McCarthy teamed up with Mags Cremen to win gold in the new mixed double sculls event, as they became the first-ever world champions in this event. It means McCarthy is now a four-time World gold medallist, as his mixed doubles gold follows the glory days with Paul O’Donovan in the lightweight double at the 2019, 2022, and 2023 World Rowing Championships.

His success has now seen him hit the top spot in row2k’s annual rankings, ahead of Oliver Zeidler (Germany) at number two, and The Netherlands’s Finn Florijn (3), Melvin Twellaar (4) and Leonard van Lierop (5).