Shaping up to be a great weekend in the Irish rowing calendar, we see athletes in action at the World Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland and at the prestigious Irish National Championships. Clubs around the country have been training all year to put out their best crews in pursuit of taking home some championship titles.
The Irish have been in action in Lucerne today with the heats of the women's single sculls, double sculls and pair having taken place. Sanita Puspure and Aileen Crowley are part of the squad that has taken to Lucerne, having last year collected several titles last year for Old Collegians and UCD Ladies Boat Club at the Irish National Championship between them.
World Cup III Racing:
13th July:
9.35am: The pair of Aifric Keogh and Tara Hanlon were competing in Heat 2 of 2 with Canada, Australia, Spain, USA and France in their heat. A tough heat with Canada winning in a time of 7:13.98 going directly to the final and the Irish finishing in 6th place, will now go into the repechage for another attempt at qualification for Final A.
10.15am: Aileen Crowley and Monika Dukarska are straight through to the semi-final of the women's double sculls after great racing in their tight heat. Finishing second in Heat 2, the Irish double pipped the Chinese by just under half a second, with the Swiss following closely behind. The times were USA: 6:58.58, Ireland: 7:03.05, China: 7:03.52, Switzerland: 7:04.02 - what a race! The Netherlands, Lithuania and Czech Republic qualify from Heat 1, USA, Ireland and China from Heat 2, New Zealand, France and Canada from Heat 3, while the rest will compete in the repechage for a final chance of qualification for the semi-final.
11.25am: Sanita was in action in Heat 1 of the single scull, storming the field with an easy win, fastest out of the blocks and taking the lead from the start. She finished the 2km course in 7:26.51, with Kara Kohler of the United States in behind her in a time of 7:40.98 - both qualifying directly for the semi-final. Swiss Jeannine Gmelin, and Canadian Carling Zeeman were the top two finishers of Heat 2, Magdalena Lobnig of Austria and Annekatrin Thiele of Germany finished top of Heat 3 and then Fie Udby Erichsen of Denmark and Australian Madeleine Edmund were the top two of Heat 4 who also progress to the semi-finals.
14th July:
12.00pm: Aifric Keogh and Tara Hanlon were up in the women's pair repechage. China held on to the lead in the middle of the course, but Australia moved up to finish first in finish line. Both crews securing their place in the Final A. The Irish pair were in 5th position for most of the race, coming through the 500m, 1000m and 1500m in 5th. They held on to the French pair of Julie Voirin and Alice Mayne, making their move coming into the last 500m and went on to beat them by 6 seconds. A good race between the two crews who will now progress to Final B.
12.28pm: The first women's double scull semi-final had Aileen Crowley and Monika Dukarska giving it their best shot at getting into Final A. They put everything on the table against a highly competitive line up. They were first through the 500m but there was very little among all crews. Between 500m and 1000m, the crews settled in to their positions that predominantly remained unchanged as far as the finish line. The Irish double held 4th position, with the top three crews gradually moving away from the rest of the field. Aileen and Monika put a good distance between them and the Australians and the Swiss. They now progress to Final B and will give the Czech and Chinese crews a run for their money for top finisher of that final. A great position for the girls to be in.
1.21pm: Another cracking race for Old Collegian's Sanita Puspure. First in Semi-final A and straight into Final A, four seconds ahead of Austria's Magdalena Lobnig. It will be Ireland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and the United States in Final A. Semi-final B had a quick race of the 2km course, with Swiss Jeannine Gmelin finishing in 7:27.58.
Next Up For The Irish: 15th July
7.55am: Women's Pair Final B
8.05am: Women's Double Scull Final B
10.33am: Women's Single Scull Final A
Irish National Championships: Day 1
The National Championships are under way at the National Rowing Centre, with racing continuing until 6.15pm this evening. Live results can be found on the Rowing Ireland website- keeping you up to date! We have some newly crowned winners in the following events:
- Junior 16 8+: Commercial Boat Club
- Senior 4-: NUIG
- Junior 2x: Workmens
- Intermediate 2-: Skibbereen Boat Club
- Club 4+: Shandon Boat Club
- Junior 4-: Castleconnell Boat Club
- Novice 4x+: Fermoy
- Intermediate 8+: NUIG
- Senior 2x: Skibbereen Boat Club
Irish National Championships: Day 2
- Junior 8x+: Castleconnell Boat Club
- Novice 8+: Queens University Boat Club
A great race for the Final of the W Nov 8+ with @queensrowingni emerging victorious in the last 200 meters @UCDLBC #irishrowchamps2018 pic.twitter.com/y3EfZRxAak
— Rowing Ireland (@RowingIreland) July 14, 2018
- Intermediate 2x: Skibbereen Boat Club
Upcoming:
- Club 1x:
- Senior 1x:
- Masters 8+:
- J16 1x:
- Junior 8+:
- Senior 2-:
Her Sport will keep you up to date with the latest results in Lucerne and here at the NRC - a brilliant weekend for Irish rowing!
