Paul O’Donovan pips brother Gary in Irish Open final

Paul and Gary O'Donovan finished first and second in the A Final of the single sculls in the Irish Open at the National Rowing Centre in Cork. The event is the first Ireland trial of the new rowing season.

The brothers, who took silver in the lightweight double sculls at the Olympic Games, were followed in by Shane O'Driscoll and Daire Lynch, who is just 18. The Clonmel man had been the fastest in the heats.

Sanita Puspure was by far the fastest female single sculler, while UCD won both the women’s and men’s pairs.

A mix up in the draw meant that the finals were run directly after the heats, with the semi-finals being dispensed with.

Irish Open Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results)

Men

Pair – A Final: 1 UCD B (U23) 7:24.265, 2 Trinity (Sen) 7:36.156, 3 NUIG (Sen) 7:40.844. B Final: UCD A (U23) 7:44.499. C Final: 2 St Joseph's (Jun) 8:08.83.

Single – A Final: 1 P O'Donovan (Sen) 7:33.694, 2 G O'Donovan 7:36.616, 3 S O'Driscoll (Sen) 7:38.710, 4 D Lynch (U23) 7:42.991, 5 F McCarthy (U23) 7:48.273, 6 C Beck (Sen) 7:49.195. B Final: M O'Donovan 7:45.736. C Final: 3 D Begley (jun) 8:06.261.

Women

Pair – A Final: 1 UCD (Sen) 8:12.88, 2 Cork Boat Club (U23) 8:19.72, 3 Fermoy (Jun) 8:29.17. B Final: Commercial A (Jun) 8:5023.

Single – A Final: 1 S Puspure (Sen) 8:08.596, 2 D Walsh (Sen) 8:26.816, 3 E Hegarty (U23) 8:40.582. B Final: M Cremen (Jun) 8:53.36.