Ireland’s rowers saved their most successful day for last at the World Rowing Championships, winning two gold medals on the final day in Shanghai.
There was individual gold for Fiona Murtagh in the women’s single sculls while Mags Cremen and Fintan McCarthy topped the podium in the mixed double sculls.
Murtagh led her final from the off, maintaining a two-second lead over the rest of the field for much of the race. Despite Britain’s Lauren Henry mounting a late challenge, the Galway women held on in a photo finish, her 7:12.27 just 0.03 seconds ahead of Henry in second.
Speaking to RTÉ after securing her first World Championships medal, Murtagh said: “I can’t believe it. I’m lost for words.
RM Block
“I knew it was going to be a really difficult race. I knew I just had to push as much in the middle of the race as I could because she (Henry) is a phenomenal athlete and has a really good sprint. Then I hit the red buoys and I caught a bit of a wobbler and I thought ‘oh no, have I lost it?’, but I dug deep and crossed the line.
“We were right beside each other, I really didn’t know who had won it until I looked at the screen and saw my name.”
Of her preparations in the lead up to the single sculls, Murtagh added: “I’ve been really calm all this week, I’ve been journaling a lot and my inner thoughts have been really strong and really calm. I’ve got a brilliant team around me, they’re so supportive, and they’ve done so well at this regatta, they’ve really given me inspiration and motivation.”
After claiming bronze in the men’s double sculls alongside Philip Doyle earlier in the week, McCarthy teamed up with Cremen to become the first World Champions in the mixed doubles event.
Having won their heat earlier in the day, the pair took charge of the final from the midway point, holding their lead to the line to win in 6:24.22.
“We got confirmation before the start line from our coach that Fiona won, so we said we better not mess it up,” said McCarthy after their own gold-medal winning performance.
“It was a great race really, to be honest, so much fun.”
Cremen added: “Me and Fin(tan) have been in the lightweight group in Ireland for the last two Olympics, and I suppose we have similar styles of rowing and similar attitudes, a fiery kind of racing style, so we knew it would be a good match.
“It’s so fun and I’m so glad we had the opportunity to race it this year.”
“It’s such a nice thing to have at the end of the regatta,” McCarthy added. “The stakes aren’t so high, we can kind of just come into it and just enjoy rowing and racing for what it is, just a bit of fun, get a bit of camaraderie going amongst the team and then just see how it goes. We’ve had a really good time.”
Sunday’s two gold medals brought Ireland’s tally from these World Championships to four, McCarthy’s brother Jake having also won bronze in the men’s lightweight single sculls on Saturday.
