It was another productive day for Ireland at the World Rowing Championships in Racice, Czech Republic with three heat wins recorded and a number of athletes also advancing to the next stage.
The lightweight double of Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen were in a particularly tough looking heat which included Olympic champions Italy in the lightweight women's double sculls, but they got out fast to lead at the 500m mark and had maintained that at the halfway point.
With Italy starting to fade and Germany overtaking them, the Irish team took first place in a time of 07:02.77 from lane two. They are back in semi-final action on Thursday morning.
Another heat win soon followed as Sanita Puspure and Zoe Hyde had just over five seconds to spare on Austria as they advanced in the women's double sculls.
Puspure, who had spoken to RTÉ on Saturday about her decision to move from singles to doubles events, and Hyde were third behind China and Canada at the first marker, but had moved to the front by 1000m and would maintain that advantage throughout to reach Friday's semi-final.
Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty carried plenty of expectation into the championships after their bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year, and they came out on top of the women’s four heat.
The Irish team didn’t have it all their own way though with their time of 06:27.59 holding Romania off by just over a second. The Romanian time of 06:29.04 would have been enough to win the other two heats.
The men’s four team of Jack Dorney, Nathan Timoney, Ross Corrigan and John Kearney are also through to the semi-finals after finishing second in their heat behind Great Britain.
They had managed to stay right alongside Team GB for half the race before having to be content with the second qualification spot.
☘️Heat Result☘️
— Rowing Ireland (@RowingIreland) September 19, 2022
Emily, Fiona, Eimear and Aifric have won their heat and are into the A/B semi-finals!#greenblades #wearerowingireland pic.twitter.com/kwh5zwKD92
Earlier, Katie O’Brien safely made it through to Friday’s PR2 women's single sculls final after finishing second in her heat on Monday morning.
O’Brien came second in a time of 9.47:38, with Australia's Kathryn Ross, who had been behind the Irish athlete at the 500m and 1000m marks, clocking in an eventual time of 09:25.84 to win the 2000m race.
There was also a second-place finish for Natalie Long and Tara Hanlon in their women's pair heat. Their time of 07:17.64 was bettered by New Zealand, but they still advance to Thursday's semi-final.
Alison Bergin was the last Irish athlete out on Monday, but despite a strong finish, she missed out on a spot in the A-B semi-final of women's single sculls with Spain and Serbia dominating to take first and second with Bergin well clear of Egypt and Kazakhstan in third. She will compete in the C-D semi-final instead.
