THEY are back to their best – that was the verdict of former Irish rower Timmy Harnedy after Olympic champions Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy powered their way to the medal race at the Paris Games.
The Tokyo gold medallists stamped their class on the men’s lightweight double with a brilliant semi-final win on Wednesday morning, firing a statement of intent to the pretenders to their crown, including European champions Switzerland.
The Skibbereen dream team had won their heat on Sunday morning, but the semi-final was always going to show us exactly where Paul and Fintan stand, given it’s not been a smooth run-in to these Games – they finished third at World Cup II behind Italy and Switzerland.
But the Irish double reminded us all that the reigning World and Olympic champions will be the crew to beat in Friday morning’s A final (11.02am).
‘I think they are back to their best now,’ former Skibbereen rower Timmy Harnedy stated on RTÉ Sport after watching his two club-mates win in a time of 6:21.88, ahead of the Swiss in second (6:24.31) and the Czechs in third (6:25.99), who also clinched their places in the final.
‘If they needed it, they have another gear, but it doesn’t look like they needed it.
‘I would say they have another two gears if they needed, that was a very convincing win over Switzerland. I’d say Switzerland were half thinking they could have a pop at Ireland, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.’
🚨 The town hall in Skibbereen was the place to be on Wednesday morning as two local lads, Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy, won their A/B semi-final at the Olympics. Skibb should be hopping on Friday morning!
- Our Olympic coverage with @Corkcoco pic.twitter.com/RYEEDg4ocH— Kieran McCarthy (@KieranMcC_SS) July 31, 2024
Paul and Fintan were in front at the halfway point of the race and stayed there until the end as they powered away from Switzerland over the last 500 metres – it was a timely show of strength from the Skibbereen duo ahead of the medal race.
Ireland will be up against high-flying Italy, Switzerland again, the Czech Republic, Greece and Norway, and Paul and Fintan will be favourites to win back-to-back gold medals. If they achieve this, they’ll have won the last-ever Olympic lightweight men’s gold medal as this event is being cut from the schedule after these Games; they’ll be reigning Olympic champions forever if they can add another gold to their incredible haul that also includes three World gold medals.
‘I thought Paul looked a bit agricultural, but unbelievably strong,’ Harnedy said of Paul O’Donovan, who could become the first Irish sportsperson ever to win Olympic medals at three different Games.
‘The Swiss beat them in the last World Cup but I wasn’t too concerned, and they reversed that convincingly. They look like they are perfectly prepared for this.
‘(Paul’s style) is not that pretty but it’s really effective. There’s a lot of nonsense in rowing coaching where people are focussed on things looking pretty but they are not effective. What Paul is doing is effective ... he has his own style,’ added Harnedy, who also had words of praise for their coach, Skibb man Dominic Casey.
Paul had joked, tongue firmly in cheek, after their heat win on Sunday that the Irish double are the underdogs in this event, as they were seeded behind Italy and Switzerland who have been the form crews this year, given Ireland only competed in one event.
‘The little Davids again, that was a big, big upset. The Swiss are number two ranked, way above us, the fastest time in the heats, so we’re happy to be able to put out that performance,’ Paul quipped after Wednesday’s semi-final win.
But Paul and Fintan are the boat to beat on Friday morning, as the Skibbereen men close in on more Olympic success, and signing off from Olympic lightweight rowing in style. Don’t bet against them.
