Ireland’s Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty competing at the World Rowing Championships

THE O’Donovan brothers put in a strong performance yesterday on the opening day of racing at the World Championships, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty also qualified direct for the semifinals.

The lightweight double sculling heat was led by Germany’s Jonathan Rommelman and Konstantin Steinhubel before the Skibbereen men broke clear of the chasing pack.

Ireland drew level with Germany after 1600m before the O’Donovans (pictured) put their foot on the gas and stormed home to win.

“They did a very good job – it confirmed their experience and reputation,” said Ireland High Performance Director Antonio Maurogiovanni.

Ireland and Germany both qualified direct for Thursday’s semi-finals.

New Zealand led their heat of the women’s pairs ahead of the USA, with Ireland level with Australia for the third qualifying slot.

However, Aifric Keogh and Emily Hegarty kicked in hard through the halfway mark to close down the Americans, and as Australia faded so the UCC duo pulled into second place to qualify behind New Zealand.

Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll found it tough going in their heat of the men’s pairs.

The lightweight world champions have moved into the heavyweight division for 2018 and could not keep the pace set by men weighing 10kg heavier. They slipped to fifth and have another chance to qualify today.

Today also sees the opening heat of the women’s single sculls where Old Collegians’ Sanita Puspure has the first chance to impress.

Tough qualification rules mean that only the winning sculler in each heat can go through direct to the semis, and Denmark’s Fie Udby Erichsen and Sweden’s Lovisa Claesson will be doing their best to deny Puspure.