Galway rowers Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh face one of their biggest rowing challenges when they aim to qualify for the Olympics as part of Ireland's women's four this weekend.
Both women were part of the crew that won silver at the recent 2021 European Rowing Championships in Varese. But their eyes are on a bigger prize when they bid to make the Tokyo Olympics at this last qualifying regatta in Lucerne.
The Galway rowers, along with Eimear Lambe, and Emily Hegarty, will be fighting it out with seven other crews for one of the two qualifying spots for the Olympics which are available in this category.
The women are no strangers to high pressure events, and their silver at the 2021 European Rowing Championships last month in Varese was a real boost when they headed off the British crew to finish just behind the Dutch winners. That silver was a real confidence boost for the crew as they edge closer to their ultimate goal.
In order to realise their goal, the four have been on a training camp in Varese since before the European championships with two to three training sessions a day.
Last year Murtagh, Keogh and Lambe were part of the women's four which won bronze at the 2020 European Championships, while NUIG's Murtagh won bronze in Poznan, and has won the Head of Charles two years in a row. Keogh has been a member of the high-performance team for several years, and last year set new world records on the ergometer at her family home in Bearna.
The women are one of three crews seeking Olympic qualification to add to the four boats already qualified from the 2019 World Rowing Championships. In addition to the women's four, Daire Lynch will be competing in the men’s single in Varese, while Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey will be racing in the lightweight women’s double in Lucerne against 16 crews for one of three qualifying spots.
Racing will start on Saturday with the heats kicking off around 10am. The four is provisionally timed to open their heats at 10.10am, with the semi-finals on Sunday, provisionally timed for 1010am. All going well, the four will be ready for the final which is expected to be take place at 9.40am on Monday.
A full breakdown of times will be available after the draw on Friday afternoon.
Galwegians can keep up to date with Keogh and Murtagh's Olympic bid through Rowing Ireland’s social media channels which will cover the racing - Twitter: https://twitter.com/RowingIreland; Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rowingireland/; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rowingireland/
