O’Donovan and McCarthy headline Rowing Ireland team heading to World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne

FRESH from winning gold at the 2021 European Rowing Championships last month, Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy will look to build on that success when they compete at World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne this weekend (May 21st – 23rd).

The Skibbereen combination in the Irish lightweight men’s double are firmly in the medals conversation for this summer’s Olympics, having also won World gold in 2019, and they’ll target this weekend’s World Cup regatta as another chance to lay a marker down.

Gary O’Donovan will compete in the lightweight men’s single in Lucerne this weekend and is coming off the back of a fourth-place finish at the recent European Rowing Championships in Varese.

Meanwhile, another Skibbereen rower, Lydia Heaphy, will race in the lightweight women’s single this weekend. The Leap woman returns in the single after a strong performance last month, finishing sixth in the 2021 European Rowing Championships in Varese.

In total, Rowing Ireland is sending eight senior crews to World Rowing Cup II:

Women’s Pair – Aileen Crowley (OCBC) and Monika Dukarska (Killorglin).

Women’s Pair – Claire Feerick (Neptune) and Tara Hanlon (UCC).

Men’s Double – Ronan Byrne (UCC) and Philip Doyle (Belfast BC).

Men’s Four – Jack Dorney (Shandon), Alex Byrne (UCC), John Kearney (UCC) and Ross Corrigan (Queens).

Women’s Single – Sanita Puspure (OCBC).

Lightweight Men’s Double – Fintan McCarthy (Skibbereen) and Paul O’Donovan (UCC).

Lightweight Women’s Single – Lydia Heaphy (UCC).

Lightweight Men’s Single – Gary O’Donovan (Skibbereen).