'IT’S nice to have one medal that he doesn’t!’ Jake McCarthy laughs, reflecting on his brilliant bronze medal in the lightweight men’s single sculls at the 2025 World Rowing Championships.

This is a rare medal that his all-conquering twin Fintan – a double Olympic gold medallist and four-time world champion – doesn’t have in his own collection.

‘He has a European bronze medal in the lightweight single, but it’s not a world medal! We won’t mention he has all those medals in the double!’ Jake quips.

But to the older of these rowing-obsessed twins, this is more than a medal – it’s the reward earned after frustrating years when he wondered, and doubted, if a moment like this would ever arrive.

Back in 2018, Jake took part in a Star Sports Review Q&A. Asked about his hope for 2019, the Skibbereen rower replied: ‘Win a medal at the senior World Rowing Championships for my country.’

Better late than never. Six years on, Jake stood on the podium at the Worlds in Shanghai after a third-place finish in the men’s lightweight single sculls. His first senior world championship medal.

Fintan and Jake McCarthy won the men's senior double at the 2025 Irish Rowing Championships.

‘Obviously, I was over the moon,’ he says, his trophy cabinet further bolstered by a West Cork Sports Star monthly award picked up just before Christmas. Home from London, his base now, for the holidays, it gave him a chance to pause and savour the moment.

‘In my journey, this took longer than I hoped. I was injured for a while and it took time to regain confidence in the boat again,’ Jake explains.

‘Even though the injury was a few years ago, it took time to get that belief back.

‘Last year it all came together. The support staff really made the difference and I was finally able to get over the line.

‘I was always hoping it would be possible, so it was great to finally get there.’

Jake McCarthy with his West Cork Sports Star Monthly (September) Award, joined by his parents Tom and Sue, Aoife Casey, sister Caitlin and brother Fintan. (Photo: Martin Walsh)

Jake’s injury troubles provide vital context for why this world medal means so much. Back problems – a herniated disc in his lower back – surfaced in 2020 and forced him off the water. It was a slow, frustrating recovery.

As Fintan hit new heights in the lightweight men’s double alongside Paul O’Donovan, Jake’s battle was simply to get back rowing and fulfil his own potential.

‘It was nice to finally get a medal after being at this for a while,’ the 29-year-old says, explaining how the journey makes the destination sweeter.

‘You’ve heard it before, but the process is enjoyable – the day-to-day training and the people you meet along the way. I like putting everything together: training, recovery, eating, sleeping. It’s like a formula you’re trying to get right.

‘Even though it’s not all about medals, it was a goal. And it’s a nice bonus. The best way to describe it is very satisfying.’

Jake travelled to Shanghai with a growing sense that a medal was possible. His preparation fuelled belief; the pieces were coming together.

‘That was something I maybe didn’t fully appreciate before – just how important confidence is,’ Jake admits.

‘Drawing on your training matters, but mindset is huge too, knowing you’re capable of achieving a medal on the world stage.

‘Maybe in the past I didn’t feel as confident going into a regatta. This time, everything in the lead-up went well. The times were good, and that helped.

‘I noticed at the Worlds that I was more confident because I had proof from training that things were going well.

‘I knew if I could execute my best race, I might get on the podium.’

Award winner Jake McCarthy. (Photo: Martin Walsh)

As Jake left everything on the Shanghai water to claim world bronze, Fintan was roaring him on from the bank, pulling every stroke. Fintan won medals himself that weekend – bronze in the heavyweight men’s double on Friday and gold in the mixed double on Sunday – but later said watching Jake win was a career highlight.

‘Not many people will understand what my brother has been through to get here,’ Fintan wrote on Instagram.

‘I’m so happy we were able to finally give back the support he’s shown us over the last few years while dealing with his own setbacks, lifting everyone around him and giving more than he’s ever gotten.’

While Fintan ascended to Olympic greatness, Jake’s ambition was simpler: get back rowing, injury-free. That, in itself, felt like a win.

‘This is proof to myself that I have the capability to do it on my own, which is pretty cool,’ Jake says, while acknowledging his brother’s role.

‘We’re super close, always helping each other. We talk things through, give advice, and it’s important to have someone like that. For us both to win medals at the same regatta was special.’

They also enjoyed domestic success in 2025, winning the men’s senior double at the Irish Rowing Championships after Jake delivered Skibbereen Rowing Club’s landmark 200th “pot” by claiming the lightweight men’s single sculls title.

Jake is also nominated for Rowing Ireland’s Senior Male Rower of the Year, alongside Fintan and Philip Doyle (Belfast Boat Club) – another fitting recognition in a year that finally saw him step onto the world podium.