Skibbereen pair pushing hard for Rio Olympics

There were encouraging Irish performances at the World Rowing Championships yesterday, although the final mood will be determined after the Olympic roll call is finalised this weekend.

Best of all came in the second race as the Skibbereen duo of Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll held off a fast-finishing Spanish crew to win the men’s lightweight pair B final, ranking 7th overall in the event.

Ireland bravely took over the front-rowing from the Czechs before halfway and eventually cross the line 15-hundreths of a second ahead of Spain.