Ireland's Alex Byrne wins gold at World Indoor Rowing Championship

Thu, 25 Feb, 2021 - 17:36

Irish rower Alex Byrne has won the U23 2,000m event at the World Indoor Championship.

A medallist in the European Indoor Championships last year, Byrne says an "intense" training camp helped him get in top shape for the event.

The event was held 'virtually' with Byrne competing from his living room.

"I’ve been planning on competing at the World Indoor Championship since Christmas and to win is a tremendous relief," said the UCC Rowing Club member.

"I was wondering to myself how am I going to do it and prepare for it. I’ve been on training camp for the last three weeks, and the first two weeks were very intense, and I collected a lot of blisters on the hand, but at the end of the two weeks, you get used to it.

"The training on the ergometer during the lockdown helped me feel way more prepared for the racing, so going into 2021, I thought that it was an excellent base, and I knew that it was going to work so that I would rinse and repeat,” he added.

Alex competed for Shandon Rowing Club in Cork from a young age and has won numerous national titles coming through the ranks.