Murtagh times late surge to perfection to win world semi, McCarthy misses out on final

Fintan McCarthy finished fourth in his semi-final of the men's singles sculls

Galway's Fiona Murtagh will race in the women's single sculls final at the World Rowing Championships at 12:52pm on Sunday. Pic: Benedict Tufnell/Sportsfile

Fiona Murtagh timed a final 500m sprint to perfection to take victory in her semi-final of the women's single sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam.

Murtagh, the reigning world champion, passed Serbia's Jovana Arsic in the final metres of the race to claim one of the favoured lanes in Sunday's final.

The Galwegian won in 7:24.28, 1.57 seconds ahead of Arsic with Switzerland's Aurelia-Maxima Katharina Kanzen in third. Murtagh had been fourth after 500m, third at the halfway point, and had closed to within 2.3 seconds of Arsic as they entered the final quarter. It was a masterful row to take the victory. 

The first semi-final was won by 2025 world silver medallist, and the reigning European champion, Lauren Henry of Great Britain. Olympic champion Karolien Florijn took the runner-up spot with Lithuania's Viktorija Senkute in third.

The final, which will be held at 12:52pm Irish time on Sunday, is shaping up to be a battle between Murtagh, Henry and Florijn. Murtagh beat Henry to last year's world title by just 0.3 seconds.

Fintan McCarthy missed out on a place in the men's single sculls final, finishing fourth in his semi-final with a time of 6:55.45. The race was won by German Olympic champion Oliver Zeidler (6:45.89) with USA's Samuel Melvin (6:47.78) in second and Uruguay's Bruno Cetraro Berriolo (6:50.64) in third. 

McCarthy will race in the B final on Sunday.