Paul O’Donovan: We almost relish a bit of adverse weather

THE wild Irish weather might have its uses after all – it could provide the X factor in Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy’s defence of their Olympic rowing crown.

As the Paris Olympics draw closer, the Skibbereen rowers are intent on retaining the lightweight men’s double title they won at the Tokyo Games, and training in Ireland’s wet, windy and wild weather means Paul and Fintan can perform in all conditions.

‘Flat, calm conditions, not too hot, not too cold are the easiest to row in,’ explained Paul during the recording of a video for Rowing Ireland partners, global real estate advisory firm Avison Young.

‘Fortunately, we don’t have too much of that here and we get loads of the harder stuff to row in where it’s windy, wet, cold and raining and we probably get more of that than any other country in the world. So when the weather is in any way not perfect we often find that we are almost best prepared for it. We almost relish a bit of adverse weather.’

The Skibb duo will be the men to beat in the lightweight men’s double in Paris, and having won two World titles together, and Olympic gold, they know what it takes to bring home the big medals. Speaking about preparing for competitions Fintan said: ‘It doesn’t phase us too much whether other crews are doing something different, especially in a sport like rowing when you’re not able to slow anyone down or affect anyone else’s speed. For that reason it’s very much about us being focused on ourselves and how fast we can get in the time that’s left in the race.’