Rowing
The inaugural day of the rowing competition saw a victorious beginning for the Irish rowers, with the men’s and women’s double sculls crews successfully going straight into their respective semi-finals. Even though rainfall befell Vaires-sur-Marne, favourable water conditions did not hamper the progress of the two Irish teams.
Phil Doyle and Daire Lynch, the duo from the men’s team, set a positive precedent by emerging victorious comfortably in the last out of the three preliminary rounds. By securing a position in the top three crews, they have successfully bypassed the repechage on Sunday morning.
At the commencement of the 500-metre mark, the Irish side held the third position. However, they consistently remained the fastest crew on water from that point onwards, ushering their way up the ranks as the race unrolled. They now move to Tuesday’s semi-finals with the quickest time secured in the heats, resulting in a favourable drawing of lanes.
Olympic newcomers Alison Bergin of Fermoy and Zoe Hyde of Killorglin also advanced right into the semi-finals of the women’s double after securing the third place in their heats.
Hockey
The Ireland men’s hockey team, marked their Paris 2024 campaign with an unfortunate 2-0 loss against reigning Olympic champions, Belgium, at the renowned Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, site of the 1924 Olympics.
Ireland, with Seán Murray as the captain, fought impressively in their first appearance on the Olympic stage after the Rio 2016, but they couldn’t outplay Belgium, the world’s third-ranked team, in territorial possession. This naturally reflected in the final score, with Tom Boon and Alexander Hendrickx scoring goals in the second and third quarters for Belgium.
Swimming
Swimming events kickstarted at Paris Le Défense Arena with Ellen Walshe and Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay team from Ireland diving into action on the opening day. Ellen Walshe, marking her second Olympic Games appearance, finished at sixth place in her heat with a time of 58.70 in the 100m butterfly.
Erin Riordan, Victoria Catterson, Grace Davison, and Olympic veteran Danielle Hill participated in their first ever 4x100m freestyle relay for Ireland at the Olympics, a first for the nation since 1972’s Munich Games. With a time just marginally over the Irish record of 3:41.75 at 3:42.67, they placed eighth in their heat, closely following Hong Kong who achieved a time of 3:42.42.
In the equestrian event, Sarah Ennis marked Ireland’s entry into the Team Eventing competition aboard Action Lady M, a 10-year old mare appearing in her first Olympics. Performing fourth in the Palace of Versailles arena, an error cost them a potentially higher score, resulting in a final dressage score of 38.0. The pair now face the challenge of regaining ground in the upcoming cross-country event before the final show jumping event on Monday.