McCarthy twins storm to victory

IRELAND’S rowers were on top form yesterday at the U-23 World Championships in Bulgaria.

The men’s lightweight double sculls won their heat comfortably to qualify for the next round, while the lightweight pair qualified for the final after a second chance.

Skibbereen twins Jacob and Fintan McCarthy lined up alongside the USA, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine in their heat, where the qualification rules meant only the winning crew would advance directly to the semis.

Mateusz Kraska and Damian Rewers of Poland were first to show, followed by Ukraine and Ireland, but the Cork duo sculled a fast second 500m to overhaul Ukraine by halfway.

Approaching 1500m Ireland were putting pressure on Poland, who were rattled by being challenged so late on, and the McCarthys cruised past to win their heat by almost five seconds. Paul Thornton and Dominic Casey head Ireland’s coaching team in Bulgaria.

“We were following all the way and we were very pleased with their mature performance,” said Thornton.

“For the stroke [Jacob McCarthy] it was his first international race, he obviously had some nerves, but he dealt with it very well. They trusted themselves and pushed away when it mattered,” he added.

After a disappointing heat on Wednesday David O’Malley and Shane Mulvaney dominated the repechages to qualify for Saturday’s final of the lightweight men’s pairs.

After 500m they were already 1.48sec awhead of second-placed France and the UCD pair extended their lead all the way down the course.

Ireland crossed the line in first place, with France joining them in the final.

Today, the lightweight men’s quad of Commercial’s Niall Beggan, Stephen O’Connor of UCC and UCD’s Shane O’ Connell and Andrew Goff are chasing a top-three place to qualify for the final.