Sanita Puspure put in a dominant display to win her heat at the European Rowing Championships in Lucerne. The World Championship gold medalist contributed to a fine day for the Irish crews.
Skibbereen pair Fintan and Jake McCarthy qualified for the A/B semi final of the men's lightweight double sculls. They finished just quarter of a second behind ahead of Ukraine's Igor Khmara and Stanislav Kovalov to place second in this morning's heat. The McCarthy's have been placed in lane-2 for tomorrow's semi final.
Also returning tomorrow will be Denise Walsh and Lydia Heaphy, whose third place finish sees them make the A/B semi final of the Lw2x. The Skibbereen crew will be out in lane-6 for the second of those semi finals at 12.47am tomorrow afternoon.
An early start didn't do any harm to Ronan Byrne and Phil Doyle, who won their heat of the M2x, and they'll go again in tomorrow's semi finals. Byrne and Doyle have been drawn in lane-4 for the first of tomorrow's semis at 10.57am Irish time.
Without brother Paul, who has remained at home to continue his studies, Gary O'Donovan's day wasn't as fruitful as his teammates'. The elder O'Donovan finished in sixth in this morning's heat of the LM1x, meaning he'd to race again in the repechage. That repechage only brought a 4th place finish, and he'll return for tomorrow's C-Final.
But performance of the day from an Irish perspective belongs to Puspure, who'll be in lane-3 for the second semi final of the W1x sandwiched between Fie Udby Erichsen (Denmark) and Mirka Knapkova (Czech Republic).
Saturday schedule for Irish crews:
09:30 - Gary O'Donovan - LM1x C Final
10:57 - Philip Doyle/Ronan Byrne - M2x semi-final 1
12:47 - Denise Walsh/Lydia Heaphy - LW2x semi-final 2
12:54 - Jake McCarthy/Fintan McCarthy - LM2x semi-final 1
13:36 - Sanita Puspure - W1x semi-final 2
Congratulations to Fintan and Jake McCarthy after beating the Ukraine team to the finish line with .25 seconds.
Videos and photos of the heats are on the Rowing Ireland Instagram 📸#ERChamps #Luceren2019 #WeAreRowingIreland #Rowing pic.twitter.com/6TCXFnRG8T— Rowing Ireland (@RowingIreland) May 31, 2019
