Paul O'Donovan advances to heavyweight semi-finals in Hungary

Paul O’Donovan file photo .

PAUL O’DONOVAN HAS advanced to the heavyweight single sculls A/B semi-final at the 2024 European Rowing Championships in Szeged, Hungary.

The reigning world champion raced in this category for the first time yesterday, while his lightweight doubles partner Fintan McCarthy recovers from illness.

O’Donovan finished third in his heat in a time of 6:58.07 after a strong finish.

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The Corkman progressed to today’s repechage as a result, and won that with almost five seconds to spare — in 7:18.66.

O’Donovan’s A/B semi-final is the second of the two tomorrow morning, and gets underway at 10.50am.

The 30-year-old will return to the lightweight double sculls in Paris to defend the Olympic crown he shares with McCarthy.

His decision to compete at heavyweight is a nod to what might follow Paris 2024, after which the lightweight doubles will no longer be an Olympic event and O’Donovan is likely to seek a new challenge in his legendary career.

Meanwhile, Alison Bergin and Zoe Hyde qualified for the A final of the women’s double sculls on Sunday.

The duo placed second in their repechage. They clocked 7:21,03, finishing just ahead of Switzerland but a few seconds short of Romania.

Elsewhere, Roisín Ní Riain and Nicole Turner both claimed bronze medals at the European Para Swimming Championships.

Ní Riain secured her fourth medal of the championships with a time of 4:44.62 in the 400m Freestyle Final, while Turner added another to her own haul after clocking 1:44.72 in the 100m Breaststroke Final.