JAKE MCCARTHY INTO LIGHTWEIGHT 'A' FINAL, WHILE O'DONOVAN FINISHES THIRD IN HEAVYWEIGHT HEAT

IRELAND’S JAKE MCCARTHY won his heat on Thursday to reach the lightweight single sculls ‘A’ final at the European Rowing Championships in Szeged, Hungary.

McCarthy, the twin brother of Olympic hero Fintan McCarthy, finished three and a half seconds clear of Hungarian great Peter Galambos, a five-time World Championship medallist and 2019 European champion.

McCarthy will compete in his LM1X decider on Sunday morning.

His Skibbereen clubmate Paul O’Donovan today raced for the first time at this level north of his usual lightweight limit.

The two-time Olympic medallist and all-time lightweight great finished third in his men’s singles (heavyweight) heat and will compete again in Friday’s repechage.

The 30-year-old will return to the lightweight double sculls in Paris to defend the Olympic crown he shares with Fintan McCarthy, who missed out on these Europeans as he was unable to regain full fitness following a recent illness.

O’Donovan’s decision to compete alongside the big men is merely a nod to what might follow Paris 2024, after which the lightweight doubles will no longer be an Olympic event and O’Donovan is likely to seek a new challenge in his legendary career.

UCC’s Margaret Cremen, meanwhile, placed second in her lightweight singles preliminary race and enters her final on Sunday in fine fettle.

Alison Bergin (Fermoy RC) and Zoe Hyde (Tralee RC) were also second in their women’s doubles heat and, like O’Donovan, will race in the rep on Friday.

2024-04-25T14:25:37Z dg43tfdfdgfd