'It’s looking good from now on' - Doyle and Lynch book place in men's double sculls final

There was no joy for Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin in the women’s double sculls semi-final.

Tue, 30 Jul, 2024 - 12:41

Cathal Dennehy

Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch turned in a statement performance in their semi-finals of the men’s double sculls at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in Paris this morning, powering to victory and marking themselves out as huge medal contenders.

The Irish made a controlled start to the race, passing 500m in a close third, with Germany leading the way out front.

It was much the same at halfway, with Germany out front and the US and Ireland just a few metres back. But in the third quarter, Doyle and Lynch made their decisive move, powering to the front and unleashing a gear no one else could live with.

“We did what we wanted to do, executed well,” said Doyle. “We knew there’d be a couple of cheeky lads who’d go off like the clappers at the start but we knew if they were going to go off and do silly things, they were going to pay for it later in the race. But we had confidence we could make them pay.”

They were forced to dig deep in the final quarter as New Zealand and USA upped their stroke rates, but the Irish had more than enough in reserve to take victory in 6:13.14, with USA second in 6:14.19 and New Zealand third in 6:14.30.

“It’s nice to be a heat winner,” said Doyle. “At the World Championships we didn’t win one race and came away with a medal so it’d be nice to win two. I was always transparent that I wanted to make it to the medal final. It’s looking good from now on.”

Their time makes Lynch and Doyle the quickest qualifiers for the final, with the Dutch taking victory in the first semi-final in 6:13.60. For Doyle, Thursday’s final will offer a shot at redemption.

The 31-year-old doctor from Banbridge, Co Down went to the Tokyo Olympics alongside Ronan Byrne as a medal contender in the double sculls but it all went wrong when they failed to make the A final, coming home 10th overall.

But with Lynch, the 26-year-old Clonmel native, Doyle could well claim Ireland’s first rowing medal of the Games. They won bronze in this event at last year’s World Championships and that will likely be the least of their ambitions in the decider on Thursday.

“We knew we were in a good position coming in,” said Lynch. “We’re showing good signs that we’ve timed it pretty well, our last block before we came in was probably our best.”

Elsewhere, there was no joy for Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin in the women’s double sculls semi-final, the duo coming up four seconds short of a place in the A final, finishing fifth in 6:55.08. The race was won by New Zealand in 6:49.49, with Hyde and Bergin now slated for the B final on Thursday morning.

“We’ve been preparing for a long time for this and we took every race as it comes,” said Bergin. “We’re disappointed, but looking forward to the next race.”

In the women’s four, the Irish team of Imogen Magner, Eimear Lambe, Natalie Long and Emily Hegarty came up short of qualification for the A final, finishing fourth in their repechage in 6:38.10 with China taking victory in 6:32.48 and the US second in 6:33.60.

The Irish made a bold bid to seal one of the two qualification spots, passing 500m in second place and still in contention when a close third at halfway, when they were demoted to third. But things started to unravel in the latter half as the tank ran dry and they faded to fourth, overhauled by Denmark, and will line up in the B final later this week.