Lydia Heaphy claimed a silver medal at the World Rowing Cup II on a hugely successful day for Irish rowers where eight of the nine Irish crews competing qualified for A Finals.
Heaphy finished second in the Lightweight Women's Single Sculls A final, with a time of 08:25.15, while Gary O'Donovan finished fourth in the Lightweight Men’s Single final. The remaining seven crews will race on Sunday morning.
Skibbereen rower Heaphy faced tough competition but managed to edge ahead of Italian rower Federica Cesarini, taking second place to secure a spot the podium with Huiru Li of China taking the gold.
"It was a hard race with tough conditions, but I stuck to my race plan," Heaphy said afterwards. "The Irish team has had a great regatta so far so I took a lot of confidence from that and I'm really pleased with my result."
Aileen Crowley and Monika Dukarska competed in the Women's Pair Repechage, finishing first with a time of 7:35.44, qualifying for the A final tomorrow morning, while Tara Hanlon and Claire Feerick will join them in the final with their time of 7:40.73.
In the Women's Single Sculls, Sanita Puspure secured her place in the A finals when she finished second with a time of 08:06.18 in the A/B Semi-Final, while Daire Lynch placed third in the men's semi-final to progress.
Elsewhere, Ronan Byrne and Phil Doyle booked their place in the Men's Double Sculls A Final, as did Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy in the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls.
