Skibbereen duo won gold at recent World Rowing Championships
THE Skibbereen rowing duo of Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy have been shortlisted for the 2019 World Rowing Men’s Crew of the Year Award following their gold-winning exploits at the recent World Rowing Championships.
Paul and Fintan stormed to glory in the men’s lightweight double sculls with a sensational performance in the A final when they blew every other boat out of the water. This new combination was put together earlier this summer and they won silver at World Rowing Cup III before their gold success at the Worlds, and they have also qualified the Irish double for the 2020 Olympics Games in Tokyo.
They face competition for this World Rowing Award from the Chinese men’s double sculls, the Croatian men’s pair, German men’s single sculler Oliver Zeidler and the Dutch men’s quad scull.
Last year Gary and Paul O’Donovan were also shortlisted for an award, while their coach, Dominic Casey, who has played such a key role in the recent success of Irish lightweight rowers, was named World Rowing’s Coach of the Year 2018.
Meanwhile, world single scull champion Sanita Puspure is shortlisted for the World Rowing Women’s Crew of the Year Award, and Ronan Byrne is in the running for the Filippi Spirit Award, open to university rowers. The World Rowing awards take place in London on November 22nd where the winners will be announced.
