Ireland’s Denise Walsh and Aoife Casey narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-finals of the lightweight women’s double sculls at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv this morning.
The duo moved up the repechage field from fifth position at 500m and were in fourth place by the halfway mark.
They passed out Austria in the final 500m sprint but failed to catch Japan and secure the second place that would have qualified them for the A/B semi-final and a chance of a medal.
Switzerland won in 6:57.900, Japan finished in 7:00.670 and Ireland, who will now contest the C/D semi-final instead, third in 7:03.880.
It was a first senior world outing as a pair for 19-year-old Casey - daughter of Ireland lightweight coach Dominic - and 25-year-old Walsh, who won silver at the 2017 European Championships in the LW1x.
Tomorrow will be a busy day for Irish crews, with five boats taking to the water for quarter-finals and repechage races.
The lightweight men’s quad (LM4x) of Andrew Goff (UCD), Fintan McCarthy (Skibbereen) Ryan Ballantine (ERBC) and Jake McCarthy (Skibbereen), who had the fourth fastest time across their heats, will be the first off for Ireland tomorrow, competing in their repechage at 9:57am.
The women’s double (W2x) of Aileen Crowley (UCD) and Monika Dukarska (Killorglin) race in their repechage at 10:21am
In the afternoon, all eyes will be on lightweight men’s double (LM2x) of Paul and Gary O’Donovan who race in their quarter-final against other strong medal contenders Norway, Switzerland and New Zealand at 1:18pm.
The Cork brothers won their second silver medal in a row at the European Championships last month to add to the silver picked up at the Rio Olympics.
Ireland’s newly formed men’s double of UCC athlete Ronan Byrne and Queen’s University Belfast’s Philip Doyle race in their repechage at 1:58pm.
The reigning champion lightweight men’s pair of Skibbereen’s Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan compete in their first World Championships quarter-final as heavyweights at 2.30pm.
