Gold again for Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy as pair’s Euros dominance continues

The Skibbereen duo held second place for most of the race behind the Swiss boat, but pulled clear over the last 500m to add another medal to their prestigious haul

CHAMPS: Fintan McCarthy, left, and Paul O'Donovan of Ireland celebrate after winning gold in the Men's Lightweight Double Sculls Final A during day 4 of the European Championships 2022 at Olympic Regatta Centre in Munich, Germany. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Different day, same result.

Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy’s stranglehold on the lightweight men's double sculls division tightened still further on Sunday morning with another stunningly efficient row.

The Italian and Swiss crews pushed them hard for the vast majority of this European Championship A final but the closing stages of these races have come to be as inevitable as the dawning of each day.

The Irish duo pulled almost four seconds clear of the Italians by the time they breached the finishing line. Familiar territory for the pair of Stefano Oppo and Pietro Rita who claimed a bronze behind them in Tokyo last year.

No dice lads, come again.

Comfortable isn’t a word you should associate with elite sport, certainly not with the finals of a continental championship, but O’Donovan and McCarthy have managed that trick with the Swiss crew that came in third close to five seconds in their wake by the end.

“I don’t think you’re ever comfortable, really, in a race like that,” said the former. “You’re on the edge, hanging on. We were still working hard.

“Maybe it looked like we gave a big dig at the end, but we were digging and maintaining speed and the others were falling off a bit but Fintan has been going really well all year.

“He stepped up again this year and I could feel that behind me, he was driving things along, and it made a big difference.” There’s is an achievement all the more extraordinary for the fact that they have had so little time together since the Olympics what with O’Donovan spending time in Australia this year as part of his medical studies.

These Europeans had been circled as the priority for them this season from some way out and the suggestion was prior to Munich that they wouldn’t make next month’s Worlds in the Czech Republic.

Pity if it comes to pass.

“We haven’t decided yet,” said McCarthy with a smile as he was shepherded away to have another gold medal dangled around his neck. The rest of the field will be hoping against hope.

That apart, it was a case of close but no cigar for the three other Irish boats competing in these A finals today.

Aoife Casey was the first of the Irish in action, in the lightweight single sculls A final, but a strong push towards the end couldn’t take her higher than fourth.

Last out were the women’s lightweight double sculls crew of Lydia Heaphy and Margaret Cremen. They claimed another fourth too but there’s was even harder to stomach.

Just over half a second separated them from Italy’s bronze medalist while Katie O’Brien and Steven McGowan also came in fourth in the mixed para double sculls but they were almost 12 seconds adrift of the podium.