Rowing: All four Ireland crews take home medals in U-23 championships in Italy

Ireland took a silver and three bronze medals at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Varese in Italy on Saturday. The results meant that all four Ireland crews in the event had podium finishes.

The all-Queen’s University lightweight double of Ciarán Purdy and Hugh Moore gave gold medallists Italy a good rattle in their race. The Irish covered the middle stages really well, and Italy had to up their rate of striking to 43 strokes per minute to deny Purdy and Moore the win.

Alison Bergin brought Ireland a medal in one of the toughest events, the women’s single sculls. Alexandra Föster of Germany fell to Bergin in a shock result in the semi-finals, but the German was in command in the final, with Switzerland and Ireland taking silver and bronze.

In the men’s four and the men’s double, Ireland established themselves in the top three by the middle stages and pushed hard from there to nail down the medals.

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The World Rowing Under-19 Championships has run alongside the Under-23 event, and Ireland also have a chance of a medal on Sunday. The double of Anna Keating and Holly Davis qualified for the A final with a second-place finish in the semi-final.