MARK O’DONOVAN AND Shane O’Driscoll stormed to gold at the World Cup regatta in Belgrade today, while Denise Walsh claimed silver in the lightweight women’s single sculls final.
There was to be no luck for Olympic silver medallists and their Skibbereen clubmates, Paul and Gary O’Donovan however, as they just missed out on the medal positions to finish fourth in a very competitive final.
O’Donovan and O’Driscoll were the first of the Irish contingent to race, as they charged into the lead before the halfway point to finish first out of four teams.
They recorded a time of 6:46.650, ahead of Russia and Great Britain, who finished second and third respectively.
Also from the Skibbereen club, Denise Walsh battled back from fifth in the closing stages in emphatic fashion to nail down second place.
She finished just four seconds behind the winner, Switzerland’s Patricia Merz.
Ireland’s Olympic stars, the O’Donovan brothers, had to allow their clubmates take the limelight as they were edged to fourth place in the lightweight men’s double sculls final.
There was just a second and a half between themselves and the winning Great Britain team of Peter Chambers and Will Fletcher, as the Cork duo registered a time of 6:27.120.
There was half a second between the O’Donovans and a bronze medal.
Fell0w Rio Olympian Sanita Puspure rows in the women’s single sculls final shortly [12.30pm Irish time].
The races in Belgrade are the first of three World Cup events, and the overall winners will be crowned after further regattas in Switzerland and Poland over the next two months.
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
They need to cut out the media circus and concentrate on the rowing instead.
@Jack Cassady: give over…they narrowly missed out on a medal…
Is that a third O’Donovan brother!?
@Joe Bloggs: probably not. O’Donovan is a common name in West Cork.
Why is fellow spelled with a zero at the end there?