ROWING

Rowing has been part of the Summer Olympic programme since its inauguration however, the event was cancelled in 1896 due to a stormy sea.

Women’s events have been included in the programme since the 1976 Games in Montreal.

The races are divided into sculling and sweep oar. Sculling events use two oars, whilst in sweep the rower holds one. The eight-person crews have a coxswain, who steers the boat and directs the crew, but in all other boats one rower steers by controlling a small rudder with a foot pedal.

Lightweight events were introduced in Atlanta in 1976 and the current programme include the following events:

COXLESS PAIR – MEN & WOMEN

DOUBLE SCULLS – MEN & WOMEN

EIGHT WITH COXSWAIN – MEN & WOMEN

LIGHTWEIGHT DOUBLE SCULLS – MEN & WOMEN

SINGLE SCULLS – MEN & WOMEN

QUADRUPLE SCULLS WITHOUT COXSWAIN – MEN & WOMEN

FOUR WITHOUT COXSWAIN – MEN

Ireland first participated at the 1948 Olympics when a men’s eight represented Ireland. The 2016 Games in Rio games were the most successful with three crews participating and Gary O’Donovan and Paul O’Donovan winning Ireland’s first Olympic rowing medal – silver in the LM2x. Claire Lambe and Sinead Jennings became the first women’s crew to make an Olympic final where they finished in sixth position.

National Federation: Rowing Ireland

International Federation: World Rowing

ROWING NEWS

Nominations For RTE Sportsperson of the Year

Next Sunday evening, December 15th at 9:30 pm, the RTÉ Sport Awards 2024 will air live on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player. Hosted by Joanne Cantwell, Darragh Maloney, and Jacqui Hurley from Studio 4 in RTÉ, the event will celebrate Irish sporting excellence in front of an audience filled with the nation’s top athletes. [...]

BACK-TO-BACK OLYMPIC GOLD FOR FINTAN MCCARTHY AND PAUL O’DONOVAN

Team Ireland rowers Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan (LM2x) have sensationally won back-to -back Olympic gold medals. The Skibbereen superstars rowed the perfect race to become double Olympic champions in front a massive Irish crowd in Paris. In doing the remarkable duo have won Team Ireland’s fifth medal at these Paris Olympic Games, after team [...]

Medal For Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch at Paris 2024

Team Ireland rowers Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch have won a brilliant Olympic bronze medal in the final of the Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. In doing the Irish duo have won Team Ireland’s fourth medal at these Olympic Games, after Mona McSharry claimed bronze, Daniel Wiffen gold, and [...]

DAY 3 MORNING REPORT FROM TEAM IRELAND | PARIS 2024

Reigning world champion Daniel Wiffen eased his way into tomorrow night’s 800m Freestyle final qualifying fastest of all eight swimmers in a time of 7:41.53. Team mate Ellen Walshe booked her spot in her first Olympic final tonight; her favoured event the women’s 400m Individual Medley by finishing fourth in her heat. Second time Olympian Danielle Hill [...]

SELECTED ATHLETES

Nathan Timoney

BIOGRAPHY Nathan played underage hurling for Fermanagh before concentrating on rowing and, when not training he studies Business Management at Queens. Like Ross he initially raced in a Four and won a bronze medal at World U23 Championships in 2022. He also competed in a four at last year’s Europeans before switching into the pair [...]

Imogen Magner

BIOGRAPHY Imogen spent five years living in Barcelona as a teenager while on the junior international tennis circuit and it was there that she first saw rowing on the local canal. She joined the UK’s ‘Start Rowing’ programme in 2018 and transferred to Ireland in 2022, qualifying through her late Kilkenny grandfather. She made her [...]

Daire Lynch

BIOGRAPHY An Economics graduate from Yale University, Daire’s first major international success came when he won a European U23 title with Ronan Byrne in 2020, and followed this up bronze later that year at the senior European Championships. In 2023, paired with current partner Philip Doyle, they were fourth at the Europeans before their brilliant [...]

Nathalie Long

BIOGRAPHY Born in South Africa with Irish grandparents on her father’s side Natalie moved to Cobh in 2007 with her dad, where initially she took up ocean rowing. She began classic rowing while studying for a degree in diagnostic radiography in London. She has only pursued the sport seriously since 2018 and a return to [...]

Zoe Hyde

BIOGRAPHY Zoe credits the pandemic with bringing her back to elite rowing as she started training again seriously while working from home. The Kerry native won a World Cup silver with Sanita Puspure in Lucerne in 2022, and put her work with Deloitte on hold after they won bronze at the 2022 World Championships in [...]

Holly Davis*

BIOGRAPHY Holly was only fourteen when she won her first international as a single sculler in the Junior Home International Regatta in 2019. A couple of years later she took bronze in the double at the World Junior Championships and she added silver in the single sculls at last year’s World U19s; which were raced [...]

Ross Corrigan

BIOGRAPHY Ross and his partner in the pair Nathan have rowed together since their school days at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School. Ross is a chemical engineering graduate from Queens who played Gaelic football for Kinawley as a teenager. He won a World U23 silver in a four in three years ago. Last year racing in [...]

Alison Bergin

BIOGRAPHY Alison, who studies Sport and Exercise Management at Cork IT, was part of a four that was fifth at European Juniors in 2020. The Cork athlete then starred as a single sculler, winning bronze and silver at the U23 World Championships in 2022 & 2023. She immediately clicked with Zoe when they were paired [...]

Fiona Murtagh

BIOGRAPHY Fiona followed her twin Alan into the sport in 2009 and was awarded a rowing scholarship to Fordham University in New York. Her impressive national title in 2019 saw her called up to the Irish team in 2020, aged 25. She won bronze in the Four at the 2020 Europeans followed by a silver [...]

Aifric Keogh

BIOGRAPHY Keogh started rowing in the Jes in Galway in 2006, and studied Food Microbiology at UCC. Aifric (with Emily Hegarty) made a final at World Championships in 2018. Despite a blood clot on her lung in 2019 she won European medals in 2020 & 2021. The Galway athlete went on to make history as [...]

Monika Dukarska

BIOGRAPHY Monika started rowing in 2008, first rowed for Ireland in 2013 and won World Cup silver and made a European final this year. She is also a two-time World Coastal Rowing champion (2009 & 2016). She is a PhD student in education, with a Masters in innovation and design. Her family moved from Poznan [...]

Tara Hanlon

BIOGRAPHY Started rowing in 2013 and completed the third year of her commerce studies in UCC (where she is a Quercus (scholarship) student) in March 2021. Tara won silver at the 2016 Coupe de la Jeunesse in Poznan and part of the Irish four who won World U23 silver in 2019. In 2020, in a [...]

Eimear Lambe

BIOGRAPHY Eimear’s older sister Claire made history as part of the first Irish women’s crew to reach an Olympic final in 2016. Eimear followed in her sister’s footsteps competing in her first Games in Tokyo and went on to win that historic bronze as one quarter of the Women’s Four. Her selection for Paris makes [...]

Emily Hegarty

BIOGRAPHY Ten years after taking up the sport Emily won World U23 silver in a four in 2019, and European U23 bronze the following year. The Cork athlete was part of the women’s Four who won the final qualifier for Tokyo, and then one of the quartet that won Ireland’s first female Olympic medal (bronze) [...]

Aileen Crowley

BIOGRAPHY Started rowing in 2010 and has a degree in architecture. Had been rowing with the women’s four but made successful switch to W2 before the 2019 World Championships where she and Dukarska qualified boat for the Olympics. Won silver at the 2021 World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne and 6th at 2021 Europeans. Aileen [...]

Ronan Byrne

BIOGRAPHY Rowing since 2011 and studying Nutritional Science in UCC. Won gold at men’s single scull at the 2019 European U23s, after qualifying for the Olympics in double and was named World Rowing’s ‘Rising Star’ in September 2019. In 2020 he won gold in men’s doubles at European U23s and bronze in men’s doubles at [...]

Aoife Casey

BIOGRAPHY Aoife started rowing with Skibbereen RC in 2009 and has a first-class degree in Medical and Health science from UCC. In 2019 she was fourth in the lightweight double (with Cliodhna Nolan) at the World U23s. She partnered Mags to European U23 silver in 2020 and they made their Olympic debut together at the [...]

Fintan McCarthy

BIOGRAPHY Fintan only started rowing after the 2012 London Olympic Games, and has a degree in physiology from UCC. He won his first Irish title in 2016, and made his first European final with his brother Jake in 2019. He and Paul qualified the LM2x for the Tokyo Games where they won Ireland’s first ever [...]

Philip Doyle

BIOGRAPHY Philip took up rowing in 2014 while studying medicine in Queens University and combined it with work as a doctor during the global pandemic. The Banbridge man won World silver with Ronan Byrne in 2019 before their Olympic debut in Tokyo where they placed tenth. Philip claimed bronze at last year’s Worlds alongside Daire [...]

Sanita Puspure

BIOGRAPHY Sanita is the back-to-back World (2018- 2019) and European Champion (2019-2020) who has never dropped outside world’s top four scullers since 2017. Finished fourth in quarter-finals at her two previous Olympics (2012 & 2016) and was Ireland’s only rower in London 2012. She won bronze in this year’s World Cup II and skipped Europeans [...]

Margaret Cremen

BIOGRAPHY Margaret (Mags), who will start her final year of Sports Studies in UCC in September, won European Junior silver with Aoife Casey in 2017 and repeated it at European U23 level in 2021. The pairing made their Olympic debut in Tokyo where they were eighth in the lightweight double. In 2022 they won bronze [...]

Paul O’Donovan

BIOGRAPHY Reigning Olympic champion Paul first raced for Ireland as a junior thirteen years ago, and first medalled (bronze) two years later at World U23s. The first two of his six world titles were won as a lightweight single sculler (2016 and 2017). In 2018 himself and his older brother Gary won World Championship gold [...]

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