A stroke of luck is required
D-DAY is approaching for Ireland’s Olympic rowing hopefuls.
After two boats won medals in Tokyo, three years on Rowing Ireland want to maximise the strength in depth at their disposal for the upcoming Games in Paris.
That means that, while six boats have already qualified for Paris, the last qualifier in Lucerne will give several other boats one last roll of the dice.
In the coming days, Team Ireland will all be put to the test individually and collectively in final trials – in a bid to figure out the winning combinations that will maximise their presence in France.
“It’s very much race by race, we’ll keep going until they have the information they want or need,” said Aifric Keogh.
“After that we’ll come together as a group and we’ll be addressed as a group. It’s a dramatic day.”
For Keogh and Fiona Murtagh, that means the possibility of going back to Switzerland as part of the four.
They already qualified a boat in the women’s pairs at the World Championships last year but, having finished sixth in that final, everything is still up for grabs in the trials.
Just seven weeks out from Tokyo, the duo were in the women’s four crew with Eimear Lambe and Emily Hegarty. They qualified for the Games and went on to make history by capturing bronze.
Like last time, the top two in each category will go through – and, if you qualify a boat in Lucerne, you stay in that boat for Paris.
Keogh, 31, said: “Everyone just wants to be in the fastest boat so whichever boat turns out to be the fastest, that’s definitely where I’d like to be sitting. So yeah, that remains to be seen in the next few days with whoever comes out on top.
“That will probably be decided at the next selection. Whichever way they decide, it could be us in Lucerne.”