Irish rowing crews confirmed for Paris Olympics

Paul O'Donovan, left, and Fintan McCarthy during the Rowing Team Ireland Paris 2024 team announcement at the National Rowing Centre in Cork. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

The crews for Ireland's largest every Olympics rowing team have been confirmed. 16 rowers and seven boats will compete at the Paris Olympics. 

The boats qualified for the Olympics at last year's World Championships and the final qualification event in Lucerne, dubbed the Regatta of Death, last month. 

Those selected are the same rowers who were in the boats when they qualified, though it was not guaranteed that this would be the case. It is a team which includes nine Tokyo Olympians and six rowers with Olympic medals. 

“It’s been a great Olympic cycle for the whole team, and we are excited to just get out there in Paris and perform to our best," said Tokyo gold medallist Fintan McCarthy.

"These opportunities don’t come around too often, so I’m looking forward to putting in the final touches over the coming weeks and enjoying it. In Paris, the atmosphere will be something else and a very different experience to Tokyo, and that’s something we are also excited about.”

The lightweight crews will travel to Banyoles, Spain this week for training while the remainder of the team will train in Varese, Italy. 

The rowing events for the Paris Olympics will be held in in Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, to the southeast of the city, and run from July 27 until the August 2.

"The focus remains on the preparation over the next five weeks, but today is a very exciting day for all athletes, coaches, families and support staff," said performance director Antonio Maurogiovanni.

Men’s Lightweight Double Scull: Paul O’Donovan (Skibbereen, Co. Cork) Fintan McCarthy (Skibbereen, Co. Cork); Women’s Lightweight Double Scull: Margaret Cremen (Rochestown, Cork) Aoife Casey (Skibbereen, Co. Cork); Men’s Double Scull: Philip Doyle (Banbridge, Co. Down) Daire Lynch (Clonmel, Co. Tipperary); Women’s Double Scull: Zoe Hyde (Killorglin, Co. Kerry) Alison Bergin (Kildinan, Co. Cork); Men’s Pair: Ross Corrigan (Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh) Nathan Timoney (Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh); Women’s Pair: Aifric Keogh (Na Forbacha, Co. Galway) Fiona Murtagh (Moycullen, Co. Galway); Women’s Four: Emily Hegarty (Skibbereen, Co. Cork) Natalie Long (Cobh, Co. Cork/Johannesburg, South Africa) Eimear Lambe (Cabra, Dublin) Imogen Magner (Killavullen, Co. Cork/Cambridge, England) Holly Davis (Ballincollig, Cork) (reserve)