Talented city rower Keogh hits new high at World finals
A rower from Furbo is on her way to booking a place at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo after creating history for Irish rowing last week.
Aifric Keogh (26) and her rowing partner, Emily Hegarty from Cork, became the first Women’s Pair from Ireland to qualify for an A final when they stormed to victory in their semi-final at the World Championships in Plovduv in Bulgaria last week.
The pair were rowing fourth at the midway point of their semi-final, behind Britain, Spain, and Italy, but a call by Keogh in the bow seat to increase their stroke-rate and length saw them power past the other three crews to win the semi-final, and in the process consign the British crew to the B final.
The duo went on to finish 6th in the final at a championship in which the O’Donovan brothers and Sanita Puspure both claimed World gold, but qualification for the A final was a major victory in its own right as the newly-paired duo set their sights on Tokyo.
“Aifric rowed by Aileen Crowley at the World Championships in Sarasota in Florida last year, and they finished 2nd in the B final, which meant they finished 8th overall. Aileen moved on this year, so Aifric needed a new partner, and Rowing Ireland selected Emily,” explained Keogh’s father, Jim.
“The two of them went to a three-week camp in Italy to prepare for Plodvod, and it obviously paid dividends last week. Last year’s finish of 8th, and this year’s finish of 6th, would have been enough to qualify Aifric on both occassions if it was an Olympic qualification year, so the hope is they will continue their form from Plovdov in the coming year,” he said.
Next year will be a qualification year, with two opportunities to make it to Tokyo: the top 11 boats at the World Championships Regatta in Linz in Austria next year will qualify for Tokyo; with a further two boats to qualify from what is basically a repechage regatta in 2020.
Qualification for the Olympics will be the ultimate reward for the sacrifices Keogh has made since taking up rowing at Coláiste Iognáid.
“She went along to a taster day before starting in Coláiste Iognáid and enjoyed rowing. It meant 6am starts for training while she was at school, but she enjoyed it.
“She went to NUI Galway, and then moved to Cork to train full-time at the National Rowing Centre facility at Iniscarra. She is rowing full-time now, as there really isn’t time for anything else.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.