Paul O'Donovan eases through to world semi-final in Canada

Ireland's Paul O'Donovan celebrates with his gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Picture: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

16 days after he and Fintan McCarthy defended their lightweight double sculls Olympic title, Paul O'Donovan was back in competitive action, but this time without his usual rowing partner.

O'Donovan won his heat in the lightweight single sculls at the World Championships in St Catharine's in Canada. The Corkman clocked 06:41.98, winning by more than seven seconds. His time was quick but not the fastest of the heats. That was by Italy's Niels Torre, who set a new world's best time of 6:39.56 in the second heat.

O'Donovan will go in the semi-finals on Friday evening while the final will take place on Saturday evening. Should he and Torre reach the final, it should make for an intriguing battle. The Skibbereen rower won gold in the lightweight men's single at the 2016 and 2017 World Championships.

The U19 and U23 championship are also being held at the same venue. In the men's double, Cork's Adam Murphy and Sligo's Brian Colsh won their heat ahead of Germany and Great Britain. They will go in the semi-finals on Wednesday as the second fastest qualifiers behind Poland. 

Ireland’s Brian Colsh and Adam Murphy on their way to winning their heat of the men's double at the World U23 Rowing Championships. Picture: ©INPHO/Detlev Seyb

UCC rower Murphy previously won bronze in the men's coxless four at the 2022 World U23 Championships and silver in the coxed four at the 2021 championships. University of Galway's Colsh won gold in the men's double at last year's World U23 Championships in Belgrade alongside Konan Pazzaia. The pair also claimed bronze at the 2022 championships.

In the lightweight men's double, Ciaran Purdy (Queens University Belfast BC) and Donnacha Keely (University of Galway BC) won their semi-final with the fastest time of the two races. They will go in the final on Friday evening. 

The men's quad of Shane Rafferty (St. Michael’s RC), Fergus Bryce (Queens University Belfast BC), Donagh Claffey (University of Galway BC) and Finn O’Reilly (Skibbereen RC) finished second in their heat to qualify for Wednesday's A/B semi-finals.