Ireland’s Sanita Puspure pipped for bronze at World Rowing Championships

Ireland’s Sanita Puspure came within a fraction of a second of claiming bronze in the women’s single sculls final at the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Florida, yesterday.

Puspure, who represented Ireland in the London and Rio Olympics, missed out on the podium by 0.35 seconds.

Conditions had changed significantly since her races last week, with the water visibly rougher than in the heats, repechage and semi-final.

However, Puspure contended well with the challenge, which proved difficult for all six competitors.

Lisa Scheenaard of the Netherlands and Canada’s Carling Zeeman struggled, while Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig just survived a stumble at midway in the choppy waters, and only barely held off a late sprint by Puspure to take bronze.

Puspure looked off the pace in the opening half, before coming with a powerful surge that came up short.

Switzerland’s Jeannine Gmelin took gold ahead of Victoria Thornley of Britain.

After the race Puspure, who is based in Ballincollig, Cork, was stoic, saying she had surpassed her own expectations after a difficult 2017 season and the disappointment of Rio last summer.

On Friday, Paul O’Donovan retained his lightweight men’s single sculls title, while lightweight men’s pair Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll finished their dominant season in style with gold.