‘Got the dogs out’: How Cork’s Mags Cremen and Kerry’s Zoe Hyde chased down the world title

After battling self-doubt, changing weight categories and a new partnership, the Cork and Kerry rowers are targeting even greater success

Mags Cremen from Rochestown in Cork and Zoe Hyde from Killorglin in Kerry won double sculls gold at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam. Pic: ©INPHO/Detlev Seyb

A couple of hours before they became world champions, Mags Cremen and Zoe Hyde were dancing in the Irish team tent. A thunderstorm had delayed their double sculls final at the World Rowing Championships. Would they race in 30 minutes or the following day? They didn’t know, but they had to stay ready. When a new race time was confirmed, they posted on Instagram to let people know.

“We had that confidence,” says Cremen. “We wanted people to see us win. We weren’t afraid of people watching us go after it.”

That self-belief even took Cremen, who is from Rochestown in Cork, and Hyde from Killorglin in Kerry, by surprise. At the 2025 World Championships, they’d won the B final not long after coming together as a partnership. Their stock continued to rise this year with a bronze medal and a fourth-place finish at the World Cups in Seville and Lucerne, respectively.

A tough training camp in Banyoles, Spain, followed during the summer. They were ready. Waiting for them were Roos de Jong and Benthe Boonstra - the reigning world champions, home favourites and the ones with their faces on posters around the regatta. Conditions on the Bosbaan were blustery when the Irish team arrived at the lake.

“It was insanely windy,” says Hyde, “honestly nearly coastal conditions, and everyone was coming off the course being like, 'How are we supposed to race in this?' The first couple of days, we were a little bit frustrated because we'd just come from Spain, where it was completely flat, not a puff of wind for most of the days."

Cremen put her sports psychology studies into practice.

“Mags was leading the charge,” says Hyde, “being like: ‘Why don’t we have this mindset: What would a world champion do if there was a gust of wind? Would they care? No, they would carry on.’”

Though a relatively new partnership, Cremen and Hyde have plenty of experience. Hyde won world bronze in the double sculls with Sanita Puspure in 2022 and competed at the Paris Olympics alongside Alison Bergin. Cremen rowed at the Tokyo and Paris Games in the lightweight double sculls partnered by Aoife Casey, finishing fifth in the final of the latter. When lightweight events were removed from the Olympic programme, a decision had to be made: move on or keep rowing.

“If there's anything I learned from last week, it's that I love the everyday,” says Cremen.

“We obviously love winning, winning medals and making finals, but I love the everyday. I love the challenge of rowing. That's what brought me back.”

There was also the new challenge of being in the openweight category. It brought freedom too.

There were tears on the podium after Mags Cremen and Zoe Hyde won gold for Ireland. Pic: Benedict Tufnell/Sportsfile

“I never would have really had recovery shakes when I was lightweight because I was terrified of putting on weight,” says Cremen.

“You’re labelled as a lightweight and it’s like you almost have to even look thin all the time. Someone might make a comment unintentionally, like: ‘Oh jeez, you look well,’ and you’re thinking, ‘Oh God, are they saying I look like I put on weight?’

“Seeing Zoe and the girls having their chocolate milks, I was like, ‘Okay, that’s what I need to do.’ On training camps, I wouldn’t be used to having a big portion at dinner. I wouldn’t be used to the feeling of feeling full. I’d eat to feel not hungry, almost.

“This year, I do feel so much stronger of an athlete and robust. I haven’t been injured, which is great and just goes to show how important nutrition is. It’s a different sport and a lease of life. It’s like you’re unlocking something, unlocking a potential.”

Hyde, too, had struggles over the previous two years. After finishing fifth in the semi-final at the Paris Olympics, she suffered a dip in confidence.

“I didn't have the Games that I wanted,” she says.

“Me and my partner Alison obviously dreamt that we were going to go and do a really good performance, and we didn't get to do that. That was hanging over my head for a lot of last season: was I good enough? Should I stick at the sport? There was a lot of soul-searching to figure out if this was what I wanted to do and whether I was good enough to do it. Mags was great in those moments because she always believed in me, even when I didn't.”

Hyde thinks Lorenz Kissling, a new Rowing Ireland physiologist, has “skyrocketed” their development. They were given individual programmes and monthly targets, while reformer pilates was introduced and Hyde worked with a sports psychologist to overcome her self-doubt.

The spell since returning to Ireland is the longest they have gone without seeing each other in person this year.

“It’s a little bit like a marriage,” says Hyde.

“We’ve got on like a house on fire. Last year, we learned a lot about each other. How do we communicate with each other? How do we approach a race? I get a bit more nervous than Mags, so how do we deal with it?

“She’s like my best friend, and honestly I believe in her more than me. I was like: ‘I’m just going to follow her and she’ll bring me down the course.’”

Cremen adds: “We laugh about it all the time. Zoe is a complete type A personality and I’m a complete type B, if not type C. It just makes it complete. If it was me, I’d be late for training, but I know Zoe’s going to be there, so I have to get my ass there. Zoe makes me into a better athlete.

“Zoe is literally the hardest-working person in the rowing centre. She will never not do the session, so it inspires me to do the same when I'm feeling sorry for myself sometimes. Every partnership brings something different, which is so special. 

"The way we carried ourselves all of last week was unbelievable. It was the most special week of my rowing career. We took every single race in our stride. We weren't afraid. There was never a moment I thought, 'I think Zoe's afraid.' I knew that we could do it and that we believed in ourselves and each other. It was such an energy.”

After their win in the semi-final, coach Dominic Casey watched the race twice, telling them “It’s the best I’ve ever seen you row.” On the morning of the final, Cremen emulated Mark English’s preparation for his European 800m gold medal race, writing “Me and Zoe are the world champions” 15 times in her diary. She also had gold stars painted on her fingernails.

In the final, the Dutch poster girls led for 1750m. Then Cremen and Hyde “got the dogs out”.

“We had done so much training," says Hyde.

"I can't explain enough how much training we did on that Banyoles camp. We wanted to go out and see if we could be as close to the world record as possible. What time could we actually get?

“It was always in the plan that we were going to empty the tank. When we looked over in that last 300m and saw they were there, the belief was so strong. In that moment, that’s where we broke them because we both believed so much.”

Aoife Casey, left, and Margaret Cremen in action during the women's lightweight double sculls final at the 2024 Olympic Games. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Both had stood on the podium at championships but neither had heard the Irish anthem played for them. Tears were shed and again when they returned to the team hotel. A win for one crew is embraced by all. After missing out on a place in the single sculls final, Fintan McCarthy, a double Olympic champion, said Cremen - who also won a silver medal in the mixed double along side Konan Pazzaia - and Hyde had inspired him.

“He was our training partner in camp,” says Hyde. “My God, he gave us a run for our money. He’d be charging at us like a train and we’d be holding on for dear life. He feels like a part of our medal. He used to give us advice. He was like
another coach.”

The conversation around this Irish crew has changed. They are no longer medal hopefuls. As the LA Olympics approach, there will be expectations.

“We’ll be going into next season and people will be talking about us, so it’s going to be interesting how we deal with that,” says Hyde.

“Next year, we’re going in for Olympic qualification, so it’s never handed to you. We might be the reigning world champions, but people will have fire in their bellies to go out and beat us. It’s challenging ourselves now that we want to be double world champions and having that mindset.”

The good news: it feels like they’re nowhere near the ceiling of their potential.

“I really don’t think me and Zoe have even come close to where we can go, which is so cool,” says Cremen. “We’re going to keep chasing it.”

That’s what world champions do.