THE IRELAND TEAM of Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe and Imogen Magner took first place in this morning’s Women’s Four B final in Paris.
With Ireland racing from lane one in a three-boat race at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, the Danish boat took a narrow lead before Australia moved into first, with Ireland pushing into second place by the 500m mark.
Across the second 500m the Irish team edged into first, holding a 0:01.02 lead on the Australians heading into the final 1000m.
The Irish boat extended that lead with a strong finish, taking first place with a time of 6:34.74.
Denmark were second on 6:36.43, with Australia third at 6:39.28.
Hegarty, Long, Lambe and Magner placed seventh overall for the Women’s Four.
Earlier, Ireland’s Alison Bergin and Zoe Hyde placed fourth in the Women’s Double Sculls (W2X) B final.
Racing in lane two, the Irish boat crossed in a time of 6:55.62, with Australia taking first place at 6:47.66.
The result means Bergin and Hyde placed 10th overall on their Olympic debut.
The Australian team of Amanda Bateman and Harriet Hudson led in the early stages, with China occupying second place and the Czech team third as Bergin and Hyde settled into fourth for most of the first 1000m, before slipping to fifth.
Bergin and Hyde then battled back to fourth in the final 500m, but couldn’t catch the top three.
The Australian boat came home first ahead of Czechia’s Anna Santruckova and Lenka Luksova (6:49.92), followed by the US team of Sophia Vitas and Kristi Wagner (6:50.74).
