Irish rowing team makes progress on Day 1 of World Cup II

World Cup II is off to a good start for Ireland, as the weather stayed good Friday morning for the majority of the racing. However the Rotsee saw a big change in the afternoon with strong winds, rain and thunder, which saw the afternoon session postponed.

2023 World Champion, Siobhán McCrohan, dominated her heat of the Lightweight Women's Single, leading from the start and finishing almost 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. There was only one spot up for grabs for direct progression into the A Final, and McCrohan was making sure that place was hers. Great Britain, Uruguay, Japan, Czechia and the Netherlands will now have to go through the repechage later on today to make it to the race for medals Saturday.

Galway girls Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh are through to the Women's Pair A/B Semi Final after a win in their heat this morning. Ireland led from the start but it was the crew from the United States that stuck with them as the race progressed. Stroke seat of the US double Jessica Thoennes was part of the silver medal-winning eight at last year's World Championships and bow seat Azja Czajkowski won gold in the U23 Women's eight. Murtagh and Keogh are up first for Ireland Saturday at 8:27am for the A/B Semi final.

Alison Bergin and Zoe Hyde pulled out all the stops in the Women's Double, winning their Heat and progressing to the A/B Semifinals with the fastest time out of the three Heats. In quite a tight race, there was less than three seconds separating the four crews through the 1500m mark. Saturday morning, they race the Semifinal with the top three crews progressing to the A Final.

The Lightweight Women's Double of Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey finished third in their Heat, just outside the top two spots that got direct qualification to Sunday's A Final. They head into the Repechage with the quickest time and it'll be the fastest two that secure their place in the race for medals.