Paul O'Donovan settles for third in heavyweight single scull

Elsewhere, Margaret Cremen of UCC RC finished second in the Lightweight Women's Single preliminary race.

THIRD SPOT: Crossing the line in 3rd place, Paul will race in the repechage on Friday, where a place for two crews in the A/B semi-final is up for grabs.

All eyes were on the reigning World Champion Paul O'Donovan, racing for the first time in the heavyweight single scull category while his lightweight doubles partner, Fintan McCarthy, recovers from illness.

In typical O'Donovan fashion, Paul stayed comfortably within the pack for the first half of the race and gradually built up speed coming towards the 2000m mark. Crossing the line in 3rd place, Paul will race in the repechage on Friday, where a place for two crews in the A/B semi-final is up for grabs.

Margaret Cremen of UCC RC finished second in the Lightweight Women's Single preliminary race. This was Cremen's first appearance in the single scull at a World Rowing event. She is usually spotted racing the Lightweight Women's Double with partner Aoife Casey, but due to illness, the pair could not race together this weekend.

Racing for lanes, Cremen had a strong start, leading the pack for the first 1000m. However, a push from the Individual Neutral Athletes sculler through the middle saw Cremen finishing in second place. As a preliminary race, there are various strategies from the individual teams, so Sunday’s final is expected to be interesting.

Jake McCarthy stole the show on Thursday morning, clinching first place in his heat of the Lightweight Men's Single. The Skibbereen native left it to the final sprint to not only move into the top two direct qualifying spots but also into the leading position. Sunday’s final is definitely one to tune into.

The Women's Double of Alison Bergin of Fermoy RC and Zoe Hyde of Tralee RC were the first to hit the water on Thursday morning in the first of the heats. The pair made a strong push through the 1000m, passing the Swiss pair to claim a second-place finish in their heat. They move onto the repechage on Friday, where the top four crews will progress to the A final.