THE mixed zone at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium told its own story.
About 50 yards away, draped in green, white and gold, still drinking in the acclaim from the huge Irish support, Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy were in double Olympic gold medal dreamland.
Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney had imagined themselves following in their footsteps but the sheer scale of the task proved too much as the Fermanagh pair finished last, falling away after a decent start.
Even an hour on, and having shared in the Irish elation as O’Donovan and McCarthy crossed the line in first, it was tough. Hard to take. Hard to work out.
“It wasn’t the race we wanted - it wasn’t really a replication of the semi-final or the heats,” said Timoney.
“We struggled to find the finesse out there today, we struggled to find the step up, that extra gear. It’s a tough pill to swallow but certainly a lot of lessons we can take from it.
“Sometimes you go out with all the intent in the world but rowing’s one of those sports where it’s not brute force and it’s not art either, it’s a mixture in between and it’s a fine balance.
“We probably thought we’d get the jump on a few boys off the start like we did last year and lead to the 500m, but we kinda got caught off-guard at the start.”
But, having had a taste of the Olympic experience, reaching a final on their debut, they hope to be back in the frame for Los Angeles in four years’ time.
“It doesn’t stop here - we’ll move forward, we’ll go home and think about it and reflect,” said Timoney.
“We’re quite young, we’re racing people like the Grecians who are exceptional athletes, almost twice our ages and we look up to those guys. Even being in the mix, to race against those lads, it’s incredible.
“We’re delighted to be part of such a high standard team who push for medals.”
And leading that charge once more was O’Donovan and McCarthy, following on from the bronze medal won by Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch on Thursday.
The Cork pair, Corrigan insists, set the gold standard for all else to follow.
“They’re incredible inspirations.
“Paul and Gary [O’Donovan] in 2016, Paul and Fintan in 2020, they’re one of the reasons we’re here today. They’re up on the podium again today, winning gold again and that’ll only drive us on for the next cycle.
“The whole team has such a great culture and ethos. Everyone lifts each other up and tries to bring each other on. Personally we train a lot with the heavyweight double and the women’s team, the lightweights kinda do their own thing, but heading out on the water this morning Paul was even saying a few words to us… you get confidence from being part of a team like that.”
Meanwhile, Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey missed out on a medal in the women’s lightweight double sculls A final after a fifth place finish while, earlier on Friday, Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh finished second in the B final of the women’s pair.
