Every Olympic journey varies highly and occasionally it commences with the selection of the boat. The moment is now arriving when it will be determined who will secure a spot in these boats for the upcoming Paris Olympics in July.
Whether it’s rowing, sailing, or canoeing, Ireland’s procedure is no exception: the boat slot is identified first and then the national federation proposes their preferred team. For the Irish rowing community, some of these choices are clear cut while others are not so much.
Aifric Keogh expressed candidly that all athletes aspire to be on the fastest boat; therefore wherever the fastest boat is, that’s undeniably her desired spot. This statement came ahead of the week’s trials at the Irish Rowing Centre in Cork.
In the postponed Tokyo Olympics, Keogh etched a distinctive mark in Irish rowing history being part of the first women’s crew to secure a medal; she was accompanied by Fiona Murtagh, Emily Hegarty, and Eimear Lambe in the four.
Despite bagging silver in the 2022 European Championships, injuries started causing disruptions in the quartet. Consequently, in the preceding year’s World Championships held in Belgrade, Keogh teamed up with Murtagh in the women’s pair.
In the championships, they were among the six boats that qualified for the Paris games – the list also included men’s pair, men’s and women’s double sculls, and men’s and women’s lightweight double sculls.
Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy’s duo is anticipated to remain unaltered, with O’Donovan amassing 13 rowing championship medals, inclusive of Olympic gold and silver. He also intends to be the first Irish athlete to win a medal in three consecutive Olympics regardless of the sport.
Most of the other crew pairings are also almost finalised with the exception of the women’s four. Their last opportunity to qualify for the Paris 2024 games will occur during the last Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, scheduled from May 19th-21st. However, this time only the top two boats will qualify and the crew that competes in Lucerne must also be the same for Paris.
Approaching her 32nd birthday just before the Paris competition, Keogh has spoken openly about her struggles with motivation following Tokyo. The likely choice at this point would be to pair her, but the coming week’s trials might change that. These trials are being overseen by Antonio Maurogiovanni, the high-performance director for Rowing Ireland.
Keogh expresses her feelings assertively, saying that the team is in a good state and everyone is eager to start competing. She highlights that they have endured a long winter, with many hours spent training. They’re now moving towards more intense, shorter practice sessions, with hints of potential speed starting to emerge.
In just over a week, the team’s performance will be measured. With the four medals from last year’s World Championship under their belts, they understand the competition. The aim is to challenge Paul and Fintan, either to knock them off their perch or to see what occurs.
Last year, at the World Championships, the women’s four included Lambe, Sanita Puspure, Imogen Magner, and Natalie Long. They finished third in the B-Final. It remains unclear whether Maurogiovanni might include Keogh or Murtagh, to increase the team’s chances of success in Lucerne.
As for other sports, decisions are being made about positioning in their boats. For instance, Canoeing Ireland has nominated Liam Jegou for the C1 Slalom, following a victorious trial against Robert Hendrick. Despite previously qualifying for the event, Hendrick missed out on the boat, just as he did for Tokyo. Noel Hendrick, Robert’s twin, has been given the K1 Slalom spot. Madison Corcoran, whose qualifying was also in the previous year, is similarly untried for the women’s K1 spot.
In the world of sailing, Eve McMahon has secured the ILCA6 spot without opposition, having successfully qualified the boat herself. Finn Lynch is also poised to secure the ILCA7 slot, another boat he personally qualified. The men’s skiff, however, remains up in the air, with Seán Waddilove and Robert Dickson – the boat’s qualifiers, facing competition from Seafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan.
Keogh, a spokesperson for the Dare to Believe programme led by the Olympic Federation of Ireland, is also part of the Road to Paris school challenge, supported by PTSB. However, it’s too early for her to entertain thoughts of winning a medal.
She believes that focusing on the process and effectively carrying out activities in training sessions or blocks is paramount. While the thought of winning a medal may briefly cross her mind, her primary focus remains the forthcoming trials or training weeks. Between those activities, there’s hardly any energy left to think about distant goals.
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