Fiona Murtagh raced to silver at the World Rowing Championships today in Amsterdam. The defending champion had to give way to the raw speed of Lauren Henry of Britain, who won convincingly. But in the final stretch the Galway woman put a pre-race injury behind her and won the battle for second with Olympic champion Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands.

 “I’m really happy with it. I’m really proud,” she said.

 She had been limited to a training bike for weeks due to her rib wall injury. “I didn’t see a lot of the boat at all from after [the final World Cup at] Lucerne until the second week of [training] camp.

 “I tried to downplay it a lot, but it’s been really hard.”

 She had leaned in to her resilience and was pleased that while the first part of the race had not gone well, she had produced the goods in the final sprint against Florijn.

 “I knew I could do it. I had to trust myself. I could feel I was gaining metres, feel her boat coming [back] to mine. And then the roar of the crowd. My family being here means so much.

 “Thank you to everyone who’s been here. It’s made a difference. It’s been so important. All I can say is thank you!”

 The crowd were also very supportive of Fintan McCarthy, who finished out his campaign with fifth in the B Final, 11th overall.

 Switzerland’s Kai Schaetzle won from Mihai Chiruta of Romania. McCarthy had a good battle with reigning world champion Stefanos Ntouskos, but they were both passed by Denmark’s Bastian Secher.

 “Yesterday probably took a bit out of me. I gave everything to try and make the final. So maybe I suffered a bit today as a result of that. But I wouldn’t have done anything differently. Even today I believed I was going to win it. I really hung in until the end. That’s what it is all about. Just try and give it everything all the time.”

 The affection for McCarthy amongst the Irish crowd was very evident after his race. A group applauded him as he warmed down.

Pic: Conor Lyall, Rowing Ireland.

Konan Pazzaia and Mags Cremen [pictured] added stardust to another great day for Irish rowing at the World Rowing Championships here in Amsterdam. The Ireland mixed double won silver, the second of the day. Fiona Murtagh had produced another wonderful performance and raced to silver in the single sculls final, and Fintan McCarthy had taken fifth in his B Final. [See separate piece]

 The men’s side of the Ireland team had not had the successes of women here, but the team spirit has been remarkable. Pazzaia, whose quadruple had finished last in their heat and exited the competition, was grateful for the chance of redemption.

 “I feel like, in a selfish way, I needed this. It was really important for me to be able to finish the season on a high. I’m really thankful for Mags and that the team selected us. It was a really great experience.”

 The Ireland crew had finished third in their semi-final and were fortunate to have drawn lane one in the final. The wind had been a problem, especially on Friday and Saturday, but while it had faded back on Sunday, no one wanted laned six, which statistically was a laggard lane.

 The Irish started well and led at 500 metres. The Netherlands took it from there. Simon von Dorp, a medallist in the single sculls at Paris 2024, and Roos de Jong built a strong lead and raced to gold. Behind them the United States and Ireland traded blows before Cremen, in the stroke seat, drove Ireland to silver.

 Cremen said she had about three hours sleep after her win in the double with Zoe Hyde on Friday, and four on Saturday night.

 “I’m running off vibes. I love racing; had some a fun time in the double with Konan today.”

 “A happy athlete is a fast athlete,” she added.

 The Lee woman said the programme for the team is “great” and the team spirit is real. “There are days when we are absolutely wrecked and our fatigue is high. But that’s what makes us such a strong team. We do it together. Through thick and thin, we all do it and make the most of it. We’re all just there for each other.”

 “We feed off each other’s competitiveness as well,” Pazzaia says, chipping in. “We compare our videos in the National Rowing Centre, looking at each other’s rowing and trying to help each other out. It’s great because we have loads of experience in the team.”

 The men’s side may need work, but Cremen was upbeat on the team’s future. She spoke about the momentum building for next year and the drive for Olympic qualification through next year’s World Championships.

 “The only way is up for our whole squad. It is just so exciting.”

 Last word on this crew goes to Pazzaia. While the other medallists went with the man in the stroke seat, Ireland chose a woman. Last year Cremen sat in front of Fintan McCarthy. Both years Ireland were remarkably good.

 “Mags is just a rhythm GOAT!” the man in the boat said. “I was happy to be in the bow seat. To be honest, I learned so much, just from the three races we’ve done.”

Pic: Conor Lyall, Rowing Ireland

Two Ireland crews remain in contention for medals as the 2026 World Rowing Championships enters its final day.

 The defending champion in the single sculls, Fiona Murtagh, had a concerning first 500 metres on her semi-final. Jovana Arsic of Serbia was setting the pace, while the Galway woman, who had a poor start, lay in fourth after a quarter of the race.

 The tricky wind played spoilsport for competitors in the higher lanes, but Murtagh was in lane one and it eased her way 750 metres in. She covered the second half much faster than anyone else. Arsic seemed like she could hold out, but Murtagh came with long, strong strokes and passed her to win.

 Fintan McCarthy missed out on qualification by just one place, in a semi-final won by the all conquering Ollie Zeidler. Two former lightweights, American Sam Melvin and Bruno Cetraro Berriolo of Uruguay followed him in to the A Final.

 McCarthy’s task in finding his way into the top three from lane six was all but impossible, given the direction of the wind – the organisers acknowledged this by running later qualification races as time trials from the same lane. But the double Olympic champion was upset at not making it.

 Mags Cremen and Konan Pazzaia, racing in competition for the first time, found their way through those time trials. They qualified for Sunday’s semi-final of the mixed double sculls.

 Cremen has already bagged a gold medal in the women’s double. Barring illness or injury, Pazzaia and herself have a great chance of making the final. Cremen will stay on track to defend the title she won with McCarthy last year.

 The Lee woman could win a double of doubles.  

Pic: Conor Lyall, Rowing Ireland 

The Ireland World Championships team bounced into Saturday on a high here at the Bosbaan in Amsterdam. The win for the women’s double on Friday evening lifted the women’s four, and they won their B Final, placing 7th overall. The women’s quadruple finished two places further back, but it was a placing in the top 10 for a new crew.

 The four fought it out with New Zealand, but the Kiwis had to give way to the crew of Claire Feerick, Aisling Hayes, Emma Waters and Emma Fagan (pictured).

 Emma Waters said they had the measure of New Zealand by half way and kept pushing on from there. “It was a really good race; really confident, really strong. Happy with it. So proud of us.”

  The buzz from the women’s double taking gold the night before was still evident – especially as the double of Zoe Hyde and Mags Cremen had won their B Final at the Worlds last year.

 “We know! They’re the inspiration,” said Emma Fagan. “Talking to them at breakfast every morning and the advice they are giving us. It’s great to have them on the team.

 “Them winning that yesterday. We were all in bits. They came back last night and I was, like, we have no option but to go out there and smash it.”

 Now the focus has moved to next year, and endeavouring to match the progress of the double.

 Claire Feerick said there had been “nothing but hard work and dedication” since the crew was formed.  

 “Every day when we get into the boat we literally just big each other up,” Aisling Hayes said.

 The women’s quadruple found France and Switzerland too strong. Izzy Clements, Sophia Young, Alison Bergin and Emily Hegarty pushed up the rate – 42 strokes per minute with 250 metres to go – but could not break through. Switzerland won from France.

 Alison Bergin said that this new crew wanted more, but she was positive about the overall experience, and she sees a bright future for the squad.

 “The team is amazing. We have the best time every single day. I could not be any prouder to be part of our team.”

 Picture, Conor Lyall, Rowing Ireland.

Some happenings in life are instantly memorable. Good or bad, we know this will stay with us.

 Here at the World Championships in Amsterdam, Mags Cremen and Zoe Hyde won the women’s double title in a race which was an instant classic.

 The two Irish women had put it out there before the final. They were in the form of their lives; they won their heat, they won their semi-final. They wanted gold.

 And then you look down on the packed stand and you see the mass of orange-clad fans. Their hunger is sharp, and it has been made all the keener by the previous final, where they roared the men’s double to victory.

 Their champions in the women’s decider are the title holders. Benthe Boonstra and the paragon Roos de Jong are not going to let two slim Irish women wrest their title from them without a knock-em-down and drag-em-out battle.

 And that was what we witnessed. The Dutch led early and when they Irish drew level the Dutch pushed their bow in front. The Irish matched it and drew ahead. And the orange bounced back.

 And so it went, until the two Irish women leaned in to the power they had worked up through long, gruelling sessions in their pre-Worlds training camp in Banyoles in Spain. “It’s now or never. I think they’re going to die,” Zoe shouted to Mags.

 And they did have it. The Dutch were vanquished. The green flags rose among the orange as the Ireland women’s double swept over the line more than a second ahead.

 In the stands the gracious hosts shook hands and slapped shoulders. They had witnessed a race so good that all went away satisfied that they had watched a great sporting contest.

Picture: Zoe Hyde and Mags Cremen by Conor Lyall, Rowing Ireland. 

Fiona Murtagh eased into the semi-finals of the World Rowing Championships here in Amsterdam and fellow single sculler Fintan McCarthy joined her with third place in his quarter-final. The Ireland women’s pair took fifth in their B Final to place 11th overall.

 The women’s single has generated a buzz at these Championships. The returning Olympic champion, Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands, faced Britain’s European champion, Lauren Henry in the first quarter-final. While the local favourite came out fighting, she stalled as Henry came through. The Briton won – in an excellent time of 7:14.82.

 Murtagh, the world champion, has had injury worries in the run-up to this event. But when it came to her race, she controlled it. Aurelia Maxima Katharina Janzen of Switzerland pushed up on her in the final 500 metres, but Murtagh stayed calm and won.

 McCarthy had to cross the line in the top three and he did this with little fuss. Olympic champion Ollie Zeidler was an imperious winner. Kai Schaetzle of Switzerland and McCarthy raced into the next two spots and held them all the way to the line.

 The Women’s Pair B Final saw a strong performance from Germany, with Australia not far behind. Lithuania held third until the final sorting out. Natalie Long and Imogen Magner engaged in battle with New Zealand for fourth, but the Kiwis finished very well and ousted Lithuania from third.

 Long and Magner now look to the new season with the hope of establishing themselves in this boat.   

Picture: Conor Lyall, Rowing Ireland

Semi-finals day at the World Rowing Championships proved frustrating for Ireland. The Ireland women’s four and the women’s quadruple both finished in fourth, and  missed out on competing in their A Finals.

 The quad came closest. They were just 1.51 seconds behind Australia in a race won by the Netherlands from Britain. The crew of Izzy Clements, Alison Bergin, Sophia Young and stroke woman Emily Hegarty (pictured), had not competed together before and had improved remarkably from their heat, in which they caught a crab early on.

 The four of Claire Feerick, Aisling Hayes, Emma Waters and Emma Fagan chased down Germany, coming in just 3.25 seconds behind them. Australia and the Netherlands finished first and second.

 The Ireland men’s four took second in their C Final, 14th overall.

Pic: Conor Lyall, Rowing Ireland. 

Zoe Hyde and Mags Cremen (pictured) gave Ireland its first A Finalist at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today. The Ireland double, with a remarkable rate of striking, took control of their semi-final from the half-way mark, leaving Poland, Britain and Italy in their wake. Italy came through to take second and Poland took the third qualification spot, with Britain missing out.

 The Ireland pair of Natalie Long and Imogen Magner placed fifth in their semi-final. The racy Romanian crew of Adriana Adam and Simona Radis won well from Chile and Italy, with New Zealand getting past Ireland to take fourth.

 Fiona Murtagh and Fintan McCarthy qualified for their single sculls quarter-finals on Friday with second-place finishes in their heats.

 South African Paige Badenhorst kept Murtagh, the reigning champion, at bay in a three-boat sprint finish. Aurelia Maxima Katharina Janzen of Switzerland missed out on an automatic qualification spot, though she made it through as one of the fastest crews.

 McCarthy gave way to Sam Melvin of the United States in his heat. The margin was just under two seconds at 1,000 metres but the American was the faster over second half.

  The United States also consigned Ireland to second in the C Final of the men’s pair. Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney finished 14th overall.

Picture: Conor Lyall, Rowing Ireland 

The Ireland women’s four and women’s quadruple both qualified for the semi-finals at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today. The men’s four came very close to qualification, while the men’s quadruple fell well short.

 The women’s four – Claire Feerick, Aisling Hayes, Emma Waters and Emma Fagan, pictured above – were competing for the first time, but they showed remarkable cohesion in difficult, windy conditions. The United States were clear winners of this heat, while the Ireland crew found their rhythm early. They locked into second and held it to the end, guaranteeing their place in the semis.  

 “Our race strategy is that we back each other,” says Aisling Hayes, who makes the calls in the boat. “We go out strong. We’ve trained all year – we’ve got physiology behind us – so we can go out hard and maintain that for as long as possible through the race.

 “This is the first time we have been tested in real racing conditions, so it was a bit of an unknown for us.”

 The removal of the repechage ‘second chance’ puts heavy pressure on crews to get it right first time – in windy and unpredictable conditions. Konan Pazzaia showed his disappointment at the finish of their men’s quadruple heat. The crew of Ryan Spelman, Martin O’Grady, Andrew Sheehan and Pazzaia, which has been competing through the season, missed out on even the C Final as their time left them in 19th position.

 The women’s quadruple also struggled in the early part of their race. Izzy Clements, Sophia Young, Alison Bergin and stroke woman Emily Hegarty came back to finish third behind Switzerland and the United States. The Irish crew’s time was the second fastest of the crews not in the top two places across the three heats.

 The men’s four (Fionnan McQuillan-Tolan, James Doran, Adam Murphy and Jack Dorney, below) came out on the wrong side of the time divide. Five of the six boats made it through a fast heat won by Britain from Australia. Ireland looked to have the measure of Ukraine in the fourth quarter, but the Ukranians took fifth – and secured qualification – with Ireland sixth.

 Ireland will compete in the C Final.

Pictures: Conor Lyall for Rowing Ireland. 

Two very good performances saw Ireland’s women’s double and pair advance to the semi-finals at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today.

 The headwind conditions made the Bosbaan course a challenging prospect. Mags Cremen and Zoe Hyde won their doubles heat racing from lane five. They took on and passed Ukraine through the middle stages and beat them to the line.

 Natalie Long and Imogen Magner (pictured) were drawn in lane six. Romania dominated this heat of the pair, with Lithuania taking a strong second. Only the best times behind them would make it to the semis. France secured third and Ireland – in what would prove crucial – beat China to fourth.

 Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan could not make enough headway in their heat of the men’s pair. Spain won from Australia; Ireland closed up on the Individual Neutral Athletes in the final quarter but did not pass them. They Ireland crew, so impressive in making the A Final at Paris 2024, go to the C Final.

 Ireland’s two quadruples and two fours race for the first time on Tuesday. World champion Fiona Murtagh, along with Fintan McCarthy, race in singles on Wednesday.