FIONA MURTAGH OPENED her world title defence by battling all the way in windy conditions to advance to the women’s single sculls semi-finals in Amsterdam.
The Galwegian came through a three-way scrap in her World Rowing Championships heat to finish a close second behind Paige Badenhorst, who won in 8:00.98.
Murtagh got off to a slow start, but brought herself into an automatic qualifying position by 1500m and closed to just 0.82 seconds behind the South African for the finish.
All the while, she had to hold off Swiss sculler Aurelia-Maxima Janzen, who finished half a second back in third.
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Murtagh was the fourth-fastest qualifier behind Great Britain’s Lauren Henry, whom she beat by 0.03 of a second in last year’s final. The semi-finals will take place on Saturday morning.
Fintan McCarthy also secured second place in his heat for automatic qualification to the men’s single sculls semi-finals.
America’s Samuel Melvin, another former lightweight competitor, won the race in 7:16.47, with McCarthy cruising through 4.22 seconds behind. The Skibbereen rower was 10th fastest across the seven heats.
“It’s been a successful enough summer, so I’m just trying to see how I get on,” said McCarthy.
“Really good training with the women’s double. It looks like we’re both in pretty good shape. Nice to get the first one out of the way.”
In the women’s double sculls semi-final 2, Margaret Cremen and Zoe Hyde sealed a convincing first-place finish to reach the World Championship A Final later in the week.
The Irish duo registered a time of 7:09.17, crossing 2.81 seconds ahead of second-place Italy while Poland completed the top three, with Great Britain just missing out on a qualifying spot.
Switzerland, Canada and the Netherlands also qualified, though Ireland look strongly positioned to prevail in the medal race based on their early performances.
The men’s pair of Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney finished second in their C final, 2.28 seconds behind the American boat, and 14th overall.
In the women’s pair semi-final, the Irish duo of Imogen Magner and Natalie Long finished fifth and had to settle for a place in the B final.
Long and Magner produced a time of 7:41.74 and were 20.80 off the Romanian winners Adriana Adam and Simona Radis, who finished in 7:20.94, ahead of Chile and Italy, while Ireland were 1.18 seconds off New Zealand in fourth.
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Irish quartet progress at World Rowing Championships
LAST UPDATE | 26 Aug
Updated at 17.19
FIONA MURTAGH OPENED her world title defence by battling all the way in windy conditions to advance to the women’s single sculls semi-finals in Amsterdam.
The Galwegian came through a three-way scrap in her World Rowing Championships heat to finish a close second behind Paige Badenhorst, who won in 8:00.98.
Murtagh got off to a slow start, but brought herself into an automatic qualifying position by 1500m and closed to just 0.82 seconds behind the South African for the finish.
All the while, she had to hold off Swiss sculler Aurelia-Maxima Janzen, who finished half a second back in third.
Murtagh was the fourth-fastest qualifier behind Great Britain’s Lauren Henry, whom she beat by 0.03 of a second in last year’s final. The semi-finals will take place on Saturday morning.
Fintan McCarthy also secured second place in his heat for automatic qualification to the men’s single sculls semi-finals.
America’s Samuel Melvin, another former lightweight competitor, won the race in 7:16.47, with McCarthy cruising through 4.22 seconds behind. The Skibbereen rower was 10th fastest across the seven heats.
“It’s been a successful enough summer, so I’m just trying to see how I get on,” said McCarthy.
“Really good training with the women’s double. It looks like we’re both in pretty good shape. Nice to get the first one out of the way.”
In the women’s double sculls semi-final 2, Margaret Cremen and Zoe Hyde sealed a convincing first-place finish to reach the World Championship A Final later in the week.
The Irish duo registered a time of 7:09.17, crossing 2.81 seconds ahead of second-place Italy while Poland completed the top three, with Great Britain just missing out on a qualifying spot.
Switzerland, Canada and the Netherlands also qualified, though Ireland look strongly positioned to prevail in the medal race based on their early performances.
The men’s pair of Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney finished second in their C final, 2.28 seconds behind the American boat, and 14th overall.
In the women’s pair semi-final, the Irish duo of Imogen Magner and Natalie Long finished fifth and had to settle for a place in the B final.
Long and Magner produced a time of 7:41.74 and were 20.80 off the Romanian winners Adriana Adam and Simona Radis, who finished in 7:20.94, ahead of Chile and Italy, while Ireland were 1.18 seconds off New Zealand in fourth.
Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy
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Fintan McCarthy Fiona Murtagh qualified Rowing Sculling