The 2023 European Rowing Championships will commence this Thursday, 25 May (until 28 May) in Bled, Slovenia. The event will feature a range of races singles, doubles, quads, pairs and eights.
This year, 10 teams have been selected to represent Ireland at the competition European Rowing Championships. The competition will give the crews a good measure of where they are ahead of the World Championships in September 2023, which will be an Olympic qualifier.
The best European rowers will be heading to Bled 🇸🇮 this weekend to compete in the 2023 European Rowing Championships. While a few raced at the recent World Rowing Cup in Zagreb, for many, it is the first international event of the 2023 season #ERCHBled https://t.co/0oE7OfRExm
— World Rowing (@WorldRowing) May 22, 2023
Who to watch out for:
Four
Ireland's rowing four of Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty made history when they won bronze for Ireland at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Tara Hanlon has joined in place of Emily, who is currently injured. Tara was the spare athlete for the Olympics and has been a core member of the squad over the last number of years, recently winning gold and silver in the pair with Fiona Murtagh at Piediluco in April. The four are medal hopefuls for the European Championships and Paris Olympics.
Double
Since combining last year, Zoe Hyde and Sanita Puspure have been excelling in the women's double sculls category. Five months after contemplating retirement, Sanita went on to win bronze at the 2022 World Rowing Championships with her new teammate Zoe. Zoe and Sanita are proving to be a force to be reckoned with and seem to have a good chance of earning a medal at the European Championships and heading to the Olympics.
🇮🇪🥉 More medal joy for Ireland as Sanita Puspure and Zoe Hyde claim bronze in the women's double sculls at the World Rowing Championships | 📺 Watch #WRChamps live now on @RTEPlayerhttps://t.co/8r55LhgRBk pic.twitter.com/PI95gGbRh9
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 25, 2022
Pair
British newcomer Imogen Magner has teamed up with Natalie Long for the first time. Natalie won a silver medal in the coxless four event at the 2022 European Rowing Championships. Imogen learned to row through the Barcelona Club de Remwas and was also the HRR Wargrave Challenge Cup winner in 2021.
Lightweight Double
Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen is another strong pair who have been rowing together for years. They won bronze medals at the World Championship in September 2022 and are both medal winners as individuals. They also qualified for the finals in the lightweight double sculls at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The chances of them heading to Paris Olympics seems promising.
EIGHTH IN THE OLYMPICS!!!
The Lightweight Women’s Double of Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen finish second in their B Final and eighth overall with a time of 6:49.9 #TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 #Rowing pic.twitter.com/nzPxT3ciUa— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) July 29, 2021
Lightweight Single
Siobhán McCrohan has been absent from the international competition scene for seven years, and will be making a comeback at a major international event. Siobhán last represented Ireland in the women's lightweight single at the 2016 World Cup regatta in Varese.
PR2 Mixed Double
Her Sport ambassador, Katie O’Brien, will race with her partner Steven McGowan. Katie won a gold medal in the women's PR2 singles final at the World Rowing Championships last year. Both Katie and Steven have their eyes set on qualifying for the 2024 Paralympics. They seem to be in top form, as seen in a shared Instagram video.
We sat down with Katie recently to learn more about her inspiring journey. You can watch it on our Youtube channel here:
