World Championship medallist Daire Lynch namechecks his former coaches in Tipperary

“I always had the dream of representing Ireland at the Olympics and now that I have realised that ambition I am going to continue to work hard and push myself to the limit in pursuit of those Olympic medals,” said Clonmel rower Daire Lynch when contacted on Monday last after an amazing week at the World Senior Rowing Championships in Belgrade.

“To dine at the top table,” as he put it himself “was hugely satisfying,” and that’s exactly where the 25-year-old Tipperary man now finds himself, having achieved both Olympic Games qualification and a World Championship bronze, all in the space of a wonderful weekend.

It comes as just reward for the talented member of Clonmel Rowing Club after years of dedicated hard work and commitment to rowing, something that is acknowledged by his peers at the very top of the sport.

Daire, who only teamed up with Philip Doyle (Belfast) in the past six months to form their senior men’s doubles sculls, is no stranger to success at national and international level, but the achievements of the past week brings it all up another notch for the Economics graduate from the prestigious Ivy League Yale in Connecticut, USA.

In 2020 Daire won bronze at the European Rowing Championship alongside Ronan Byrne, with the pair having also won gold at the 2020 European Under 23 Rowing Championships.

And at a national level in August 2021, the heavyweight oarsman from “The Island” won the national single sculls in Cork, in the process dealing Olympic gold medallist Paul O’Donovan (Skibbereen) his first defeat of the year.
It hasn’t been all smooth water for Daire in his career either and he has also had to deal with injuries and disappointments along the way, including missing out on a chance to make the Toyko Olympics in 2021 when the men’s doubles sculls boat was filled by Ronan Byrne and Philip Doyle.

But last week made up for much of that heartbreak from 2021 and it is full steam ahead on the river for Daire and Philip in preparation for the Olympics in Paris next July.

Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch (right) show off their World Championship bronze medals having finished third to The Netherlands and Croatia in last Sunday’s final. Pic: Sportsfile

The Olympic odyssey started on Sava Lake in Serbia on Sunday week last in their first race when the pair finished second to the US to advance to a quarter-final on Wednesday last.

“The quarter-finals was a critical race for us because if we didn’t qualify in the first three then our Olympic dream would have been over. We qualified comfortably in second place behind the Dutch,” said Daire.

“We were feeling very strong and confident going into the semis and rowed a very good race to be a close second behind the Croatian double of the Sinkovic brothers,” said Daire, guaranteeing the Irish pair that treasured ticket to Paris and putting them through to the World Championship final on Sunday.

In Sunday’s six-lane medal race, which also included The Netherlands, Croatia, Italy, China and Spain, the Irish pair had their homework done beforehand.

“We had a plan to sit behind within touching distance until the one kilometre and hopefully make a move through the field from there. We knew the Dutch were rapid and would try to lead from the start and that the Croatians and Italians would try to match them. We moved steadily though the field, passing the Chinese and Spanish. We then overtook the Italians at the 1,500m mark and set off after the Croatians. We closed right up on them in the final 250m but they kept responding to keep us at bay,” he said, and therefore Daire and Philip had to be content with bronze this time, behind winners The Netherlands (Melvan Twellaar and Stefan Broenink) and silver medallists Croatia (the legendary two-time Olympic champions Sinkovics, Martain and Valent).

Graciously on Monday Daire took time to send his best wishes from Belgrade to all at “The Island”.

“My rowing career has taken me to so many interesting and far-flung places since my early days when I started out at Clonmel Rowing Club. I owe so much to my former coaches, Pat Kinsella and Jimmy Fennessy for all their help, encouragement and guidance in my teenage years,” he concluded.