Great Start To Second Day For Irish Crews At World Rowing Championships

The second day of the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam continued with Irish crew's racing this afternoon.

The first race of the day was the men's lightweight pair. The record time for this event, set almost 20 years ago, is still held by Ireland's Tony O'Connor and Neville Maxwell.
It was always going to be a tough heat for Mark O'Donovan and Niall Kenny against reigning World and European Champions, Switzerland and the fast Chinese crew who were also seeded in the same heat.

The Swiss were up by ½ length at the 650m mark with the Irish in second place. The Irish stepped on the pace at 1000m and in the last 750m gained on the World Champions with China also putting pressure on in lane six. The Irish pair stormed home to win with China taking second and Switzerland in third. The pair now go straight through to the Semi Final on Thursday at 14:01.

The Women's double scull of Monika Dukarska and Helen Walshe (Hannigan) raced next, with the reigning World Champions, Lithuania, in their heat. The Lithuanians and Ukrainians stormed ahead and the Irish had their own battle with Denmark for 3rd place. The Danes came in .54 seconds ahead of the Irish. The double will now race in the repechage on Wednesday at 15:50
The final race of the day for the Irish was the newly formed Women's Four. With two to qualify for the ¼ Finals they came in fifth place and will go through to the repechage on Wednesday at 15:32 (Irish Time).

Tomorrow the Irish team have one race scheduled, the Women's lightweight double of Claire Lambe and Denise Walsh will race at 15:25. (Irish Time)

In a round up of today's events Lead Coach Don McLachlan said "It was an excellent result for the men's lightweight pair. They confidently rowed down a good Swiss pair in what was their first International race together this season. I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do in the semi-final and beyond. The women's double raced well for the first time together and are looking to see if they can step on for a place in the A/B semi-final. The Women's four had a tough time with the early pace in their heat but I'm sure they will come out fighting in the repechage."