Ten athletes will represent eight clubs on Sunday in the senior men’s single scull event. Five of those athletes currently train with the Irish high-performance squad, so this event is sure to be a doozy. Fresh off a bronze medal-winning performance in Lucerne in only his second World Rowing Cup regatta as an openweight, will Fintan McCarthy prevail, or will his smaller frame hold him back against the likes of Phil Doyle? In his first year post-U23 eligibility, Brian Colsh will try to make his mark against more experienced Senior rowers Jake McCarthy, a lightweight, and Ronan Byrne, all three of whom will be vying for the third spot.
Fintan McCarthy, Skibbereen RC
With two Olympic gold medals (Tokyo and Paris) to his name, Fintan McCarthy is sure to impress this Sunday, even up against four other Rowing Ireland high-performance athletes. Though McCarthy came up as a lightweight, winning both of his Olympic medals in the lightweight men’s double behind Paul O’Donovan, his transition to openweight this season has been nothing short of seamless, taking bronze at each of the two senior international regattas he’s raced in this year (European Rowing Championships and the Lucerne World Rowing Cup) in the double behind Konan Pazzaia. This makes his double the most successful Irish senior men’s crew of 2025. Of course, past success doesn’t mean anything, especially on the unpredictable waters of the River Lee, but I think McCarthy might just pull this one off, even against fellow Olympic medallist Phil Doyle…
Phil Doyle, Belfast RC
That being said, Phil Doyle won’t make this easy on McCarthy, and I wouldn’t put a win past him, not by a long shot. Doyle also has some bronze in his pocket, winning Rowing Ireland’s first men’s openweight Olympic medal with Daire Lynch last July. This year, Doyle has not found so much success on the senior international circuit, racing only once in a quad and finishing in a disappointing 11th place overall. Nonetheless, Doyle does have the advantage, over McCarthy at least, of being a natural heavyweight; given that the latter only just started racing as an openweight, Doyle is still probably a bit stronger and certainly more comfortable than McCarthy. Phil Doyle has a strong chance of winning— he might even have the best chance.
Brian Colsh, University of Galway BC
After no doubt being disappointed by Ireland’s 11th-place finish in the men’s quad at the European Rowing Championships, Dominic Casey swapped Doyle out for Brian Colsh ahead of Lucerne Regatta, and the crew was able to improve on their finish position—though not on their time —by three spots, coming eighth overall. Before joining the Irish senior squad, Colsh succeeded at the U23 level, with two World Rowing Championships bronze medals (2022, 2024) and a Gold (2023), all in the double. We’ll see this weekend if Colsh can keep up with some of Rowing Ireland’s strongest athletes— and prove himself among them.
Ronan Byrne, University College Cork RC
Like Colsh and Doyle, Ronan Byrne has had a disappointing season in the men’s quad, racing it at the European Rowing Championships with Doyle and Lucerne with Colsh. Neither does Byrne have as impressive an international track record as some of his other competitors. Nonetheless, the fact that he trains and frequently competes with the high-performance squad immediately puts him in the top five in my book, as it gives him an edge over the competitors not mentioned in this preview who only compete domestically.
Jake McCarthy, Skibbereen RC
Rounding out the top five at this event is Jake McCarthy, another Rowing Ireland athlete who this year has been competing in the lightweight men’s single. Like his brother, Fintan, he’s traditionally a lightweight, though he hasn’t found quite the success Fintan did and has opted not to transition to openweight competition, meaning he’ll be the smallest of the five high performance athletes competing in this category, and indeed may even be smaller than some of the non-previewed athletes. Nonetheless, like Colsh and Byrne, his years of experience on the high-performance training plan puts him in the top five in this category.
Prediction
If you couldn’t tell by now, I think this will be a race between Fintan McCarthy from Skibbereen RC and Phil Doyle from Belfast RC, but ultimately, McCarthy has shown himself to be the stronger rower of the two, so I think he’ll manage the win. The third spot could just as likely go to UGBC’s Colsh as UCCRC’s Byrne, although Colsh does spend more time in the scull than Byrne does. Fintan’s brother, Jake, will be close behind, if not fighting for the third spot. I imagine the remaining place in the final will go to Yukoh Yamada from UCCRC; he’ll have his work cut out to keep up with the five athletes previewed above.
