Murtagh finishes strongly for superb silver in Amsterdam

Injury disrupted preparations for Galway rower

MOYCULLEN'S Fiona Murtagh added more success to her already glittering rowing career on Sunday lunchtime by capturing a silver medal in the Women’s Single Sculls final at the World Championships in Amsterdam.

Murtagh, who took gold in the event held in Shanghai 12 months ago, won a riveting battle for second place ahead of Karolien Florijn from the Netherlands. Lauren Henry emerged a clearcut winner, reversing the result from a photo finish in last year's final behind Murtagh and becoming the first British woman to capture the title.

Olympic champion Florijn and Switzerland's Aurelia-Maxima Janzen led from the start of the 2,000-metre race, but Henry made her move after the halfway mark and returned home in a time of 7:15.93. Murtagh was next in 7:18.04 having reeled in and outsprinted Florijn in a tense finale, the home favourite finishing in 7:18.84.

It's the latest medal for Murtagh who twice represented Ireland at the Olympics, winning a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games as part of the Women’s Fours alongside Furbo's Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe and Emily Hegarty.

Sunday's result delighted the 31-year-old especially after her preparations for the championships were interrupted by a rib injury after taking silver at World Cup III in Lucerne.

“I'm really happy with it, really proud of how I have grown throughout this competition,” Murtagh told RTÉ Sport afterwards.

“Prep was hard, camp was tough. I spent three or four weeks on the bike and didn't see a lot of the boat at all from after Lucerne until the second week of camp. Mentally, that had played a lot.

“I tried to downplay it (the injuries) quite a bit, but it’s been really hard. I really wanted to be resilient and regardless of the challenges I faced, that I could grow from them. Anything that swings my way, I can take it on the chin and still put down a performance.

“Was it an ideal race? No, but I really liked the last 750. I loved how I moved through that final sprint. I'm really proud of that. Murtagh added about an enthralling last surge that was rewarded with silver: “I took a swing over to my right and I could see Florijn wasn’t out of sight. I knew I could do it, I just had to trust myself.

“I could feel that I was gaining metres and could feel her boat coming to mine. The roar of the crowd and my family being here means so much.

“Thanks to everyone who has been here. It has made a difference, it's been so important. Thanks to the coaches and support staff, my family and friends. My teammates have been incredible. It's been a tough couple of weeks, I'm really proud of myself.”

Ireland claimed another silver medal on the final day of the championships through Mags Cremen and Konan Pazzaia who saw off the USA to finish behind the Netherlands in the Mixed Double Sculls. It rounded off an excellent championships for the Irish team after Cremen also won Women’s Double Sculls gold on Friday.