Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne got their Olympic quest back on track with a third-place finish in their men’s double sculls repechage.
The Team Ireland’s rowers finished fourth in yesterday’s heat and needed a top-three finish today to qualify for the semi-final. Germany and Lithuania took the opening two spots with the Irish medal hopefuls just behind.
It was a steady performance from the third lane that leaves room for improvement.
The Czechs started strong but faded at the 1500m mark and were ultimately eliminated. Doyle and Byrne’s semi-final takes place on Sunday morning. A draw later will confirm which leg they will compete in.
For Ronan Byrne, their performance so far is not causing panic.
“We definitely have the experience of going through the repechage in races. The field here is pretty similar at the top end to what we are used to racing. We know we can beat these guys we just need to get something to click,” he told RTE.
“It is finding that click now, that is the thing. It is not going to be something that gradually comes on over a while. It is going to be something that clicks. In the semi tomorrow we could be way up there. We don’t know, it is still a bit unpredictable.”
Elsewhere, there was disappointment for Monica Dukarska and Aileen Crowley in the women’s pair third heat after missing out on automatic entry to the semi-final.
The pair secured eighth at the 2019 world championship to qualify for this event and were right in contention with 500m to go but just fell short.
In an ultra-competitive heat that included Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast, the New Zealand pair who won gold in the women’s pair at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, a strong Spanish finish held off Ireland to snatch a qualifying place.
New Zealand finished first ahead of Denmark in second.
It is a busy day on the water for the Irish. Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy will race in their lightweight men’s doubles sculls rowing heats at 3am Irish time. Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty are in action after with the women’s fours rowing heats set for 3.30am.
