Jonah Kirby (Kenmare) and Jack Rafferty (St Michael's) have made history by securing Ireland's first men's U19 world gold medal at the 2025 World Rowing Championships in Trakai, Lithuania.
The junior men’s double took gold in today’s A final in challenging conditions with a strong headwind.
At the 500-metre mark, the Irish duo began to push away from the field and had clear water by 900 metres.
Their lead continued to grow throughout the race, and they crossed the line with two lengths of clear water in a time of 6 minutes, 39.57 seconds.
Junior women's double Sophia Young and Aoife Hendy finished fifth in their A final.
Sitting in sixth for much of the race, they surged past Poland and battled with Hungary for fourth but narrowly missed out, crossing the line in 7:55.30.
Junior men's quadruple scull Evan O'Byrne, Mattias Cogan, Bill Murphy and Harry McCarthy won the B final.
Sitting in second after the first 500 metres, the crew moved into the lead in the second quarter and held their position despite late sprint finishes from Belgium and France, crossing the line in 6:20.48.
Junior women's four Anna O’Grady, Cloda Phillips, Isabella Wright and Sarah Rockett placed second in this morning’s B Final.
The crew led through the halfway mark, but a strong push from Croatia saw them cross the line in second place in 7:24.55.
Ireland's junior men’s four Daniel Crozier, Tommy Little, Richard Heaslip and Paul Schofield finished fourth in the B Final.
At the 1000-metre mark, the crew sat in fifth, but they overtook Serbia to cross the line in fourth place, clocking 6:41.04.
It was a landmark regatta for Rowing Ireland, with every crew finishing inside the world’s top ten.
