Grit, determination, and the right programme behind Irish rowing's 'big strong gorls'

First and foremost, they are more than a four, they are a squad

Ireland Women's Four, from left, Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty with Rowing Ireland high performance director Antonio Maurogiovanni, centre, and coach Giuseppe De Vita after finishing 3rd in the Women's Four final at the Sea Forest Waterway during the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

I first met Eimear Lambe and Emily Hegarty at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in the beautiful city of Libourne in the Bordeaux region of France in 2014. Both were competing. Eimear, having just rowed at the Youth Olympics in China, was following in her sisters Claire and Sinead’s footsteps and Emily was a young 15 year old from Skibbereen.

The following year, Emily returned to the Coupe de La Jeunesse in Szeged, Hungry in a double with Aoife Casey and medalled both days with gold.