Ireland’s women’s four and quadruple sculls reached the semi-finals of the World Rowing Championships on Tuesday, securing two places for newly assembled crews in Amsterdam. Tuesday’s programme at the Bosbaan was brought forward because stronger winds were forecast later in the day, although the course remained rowable.
The four advanced automatically by finishing second behind the United States, while the quad recovered from a crab in the early stages to qualify on time in third. Ireland’s men’s four narrowly missed progression and the men’s quad was eliminated.
Ireland’s new combinations advance
Both the women’s quad and four are fresh combinations formed since the World Cup Series. The middle pair of the four, Emma Waters (three seat) and Aisling Hayes, return from the 2025 four that finished ninth.
“We haven’t been together that long,” said stroke Emma Fagan. “The way that we gelled, our personalities and the belief we have in each other, the way that we support one another, that is the key to it.”
“We locked in and gelled pretty quickly from there,” Waters said of the new lineup.
With Claire Feerick in the bow seat, the new four moved into second during the middle 1,000 metres of their heat. The United States pulled clear to win, but Ireland held off Italy and Germany to claim the second automatic qualifying place in 7:21.08.
“It was hard in the headwind,” Fagan said after the race. “This is my first World Championships and once we hit that K [the 1,000m mark] we were just long and strong to the end, baby!”
Despite being newly put together, Ireland’s women’s quadruple sculls includes some star talent. It is stroked by the two-time Olympian and Tokyo bronze medallist Emily Hegarty, who is backed up by two-time U23 BW1x medallist Alison Bergin. The current U23 BW1x silver medallist Sophia Young sits at two and Izzy Clements makes the jump to openweight after winning consecutive LW1x World Cup medals this season.
They sat fourth at 500 metres before moving past China. Ireland maintained third through the closing stages and recorded 6:59.16, the second-fastest time among the crews qualifying on time.
Men miss the cut
The men’s four of Jack Dorney, Adam Murphy, James Doran, and Fionnán McQuillan-Tolan finished last in their heat, behind Britain and Australia, who secured direct qualification. Ireland moved ahead of Ukraine during the race, but the Ukrainians regained the advantage and secured the final time-based place in the A/B semi-finals. Ireland finished in 6:34.50 and dropped into the C final.
Konan Pazzaia, Andrew Sheehan, Ryan Spelman and Martin O’Grady finished fifth in the men’s quadruple sculls heat. Their 6:44.42 was the slowest time across the 19-boat field, ending their championships. But Pazzaia will race again on Saturday, with Margaret Clemen in the mixed double sculls heat.
