Sinéad Lynch (née Jennings) represented Ireland alongside Claire Lambe in the women’s lightweight double sculls at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, reaching the final and finishing 6th.

Her journey to the Olympic start line is one of the most extraordinary in Irish sport, spanning 16 years and four Olympic cycles. In 2000 she won a World Championship gold medal in the lightweight single sculls – but that event was not on the Olympic programme. Her attempts to qualify for Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London all failed for different reasons: a lack of suitable doubles partner, a switch to heavyweight events, and a stint in track cycling.

All the while she married former Olympian Sam Lynch – who rowed for Ireland at Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004 – and had three daughters, and continued her medical training. Finally, at the 2015 World Championships, she and Lambe, 13 years her junior, qualified Ireland for Rio. Lynch was 39 years old at the Games. She grew up in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, is a member of St Michael’s Rowing Club, studied Pharmacy at the University of Sunderland and completed medical training at Trinity College Dublin.