O’Donovans ‘disappointed’ despite European silver
Paul O’Donovan said he was “disappointed” as he and brother, Gary, took a silver medal in the lightweight double sculls, at the European Championships, in Strathclyde, Glasgow, yesterday.
The Skibbereen duo finished in the middle of a stirring, three-boat battle for gold, after Norwegians, Kristoffer Brun and Are Strandli, raced to the head of the field from 1,000 metres.
From 1,750 metres, Italy pushed up and led Ireland, but the O’Donovans regrouped and looked, at one point, in good shape to chase down the Norwegian crew.
But they could not quite make up the gap and clocked a time of 6:22.84, 1.99 seconds behind the Norwegians.
“It was a tough ould race,” Gary O’Donovan told RTÉ Sport afterwards. “We’re feeling pretty shagged now, but we’ll recover in time. We gave it a good old go; the Norwegians were just too quick.
“We planned to keep within touching distance of them, within the first 500m. The plan then was to move through towards the kilometre mark. We gained a lot on the Norwegians, but they were just a bit fitter and stronger today,”
Paul added: “I’m a little bit disappointed with silver, but we know the Norwegians are pretty good.”
Brun, 30, and Strandli, 29, were world champions in 2013 and were delighted to return to the European summit: “It’s fantastic to be back on top,” said Brun.
The O’Donovans now depart for a training camp in Spain, in preparation for the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
“The main focus for the year, now, will be the World Championships,” Paul said. “There’s a lot to do over the next few weeks, but that will provide some motivation, at least.” Earlier in the day, Aoife Casey and Denise Walsh had taken second in their B final of the lightweight double, finishing eighth overall.
They pushed Germany’s Leonie Pless and Katrin Thoma all the way, taking the lead at the 1,000-metre mark. As the crews came to the line, cheered on by the crowd, Ireland upped the rate. But the Germans held out and won by one-third of a length.
On Saturday, Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll completed an encouraging championships for their world and Olympic ambitions, finishing fifth in their B final, 11th overall in the heavyweight pair event.
Winners in the lightweight division at both Europeans and World Championships last year, the duo are adapting fast to life as heavyweights.
“Close racing all weekend. Learning and ready to progress for world championships,” O’Donovan tweeted.
The regatta had 32 countries competing, with medals won by 17. Italy finished third, behind Romania and France, with six medals, two of them gold. Switzerland was fourth and Norway fifth.
