‘We’re almost best prepared for it’ – Irish Olympians reveal how Ireland’s weather is secret to rowing success
TWO Irish Olympians have said Ireland’s bad weather helps them compete on the world stage.
Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy will be part of Team Ireland, representing their country in rowing at the Paris Olympics.
And the champion pair said the wind and rain actually helps them.
Paul said: “Flat calm conditions, not too hot, not too cold are the easiest to row in.
"Fortunately, we don’t have too much of that here and we get loads of the harder stuff to row in where it’s windy, wet, cold and raining and we probably get more of that than any other country in the world.
“So when the weather is in any way not perfect we often find that we are almost best prepared for it. We almost relish a bit of adverse weather.”
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Fintan added: “It doesn’t phase us too much whether other crews are doing something different, especially in a sport like rowing when you’re not able to slow anyone down or affect anyone else’s speed.
"For that reason it’s very much about us being focused on ourselves and how fast we can get in the time that’s left in the race.”
The pair are competing in the Lightweight Men’s Double category at the Paris games, with the rowing competitions kicking off on Saturday July 27.
The first race will be the Men's Single Sculls Heats.
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Paul also told Rowing Ireland’s corporate sponsor, Avison Young’s team: “We are very grateful for all the support that we receive.
“It’s nothing but positivity and it’s incredible how much everyone gets behind a sport like rowing, especially with the big event coming up later this summer.
“I think for us, we got into rowing for our own reasons and wanted to be the best for ourselves and do the best that we can do.
“For us, it was never about trying to please other people or make other people happy, to meet other people’s expectations.
“We’re just happy that we are doing the thing that we like and we are making progress in the direction that we want to go in. That was, and still is, the most important thing for us.”
