Fintan McCarthy (born 23 November 1996) is an Irish lightweight
rower
Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...
. He is an Irish national champion and a world and Olympic champion. He won the men's lightweight double sculls championship title with Paul O'Donovan at the
2019 World Rowing Championships
The 2019 World Rowing Championships were held in Ottensheim, Austria from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Apart from Ottensheim, the right to host the championships was contested by Hamburg in Germany, Račice in the Czech Republic, and Varese ...
and at the
2020 Tokyo Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...
where he set a new world's best time for that event. He also won a bronze medal in lightweight single sculls at the
2020 European Rowing Championships
The 2020 European Rowing Championships were held in Poznań, Poland from 9 to 11 October 2020.Skibbereen
Skibbereen (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is located in West Cork on the N71 national secondary road. The name "Skibbereen" (sometimes shortened to "Skibb") means "little boat harbour". The River Ilen runs through the town; it reach ...
,
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...
. His first experience in rowing was while in primary school, but only started taking the sport seriously when he was 15 after seeing the London Olympics in 2012. He studied at
University College Cork
University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork.
The university was founded in 1845 as one ...
and graduated with a degree in
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...
.
McCarthy won his first national title in rowing with his brother Jake in 2016. The brothers qualified for the
European Rowing Championships
The European Rowing Championships is an international Rowing regatta organised by FISA (the International Rowing Federation) for European rowing nations, plus Israel which, though not a member of the European federation is treated as a Europea ...
final in 2019.
In 2019, he was partnered with Paul O'Donovan in the men's lightweight double sculls at the
World Rowing Championships
The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non- Olympic years is the highlight of ...
held at
Linz
Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846.
In 2009, it was a European Capital ...
-
Ottensheim
Ottensheim is a municipality in the district of Urfahr-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. In July 2008 it hosted the World Rowing Championships, and it did so again in 2019.
History
First settlements in this area date from about 4 ...
in Austria, where they won the gold medal and the world championship title. In 2020, he won a bronze in the men's lightweight single sculls at the
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
.
McCarthy raced with O'Donovan at the
2021 European Rowing Championships
The 2021 European Rowing Championships were held from 9 to 11 April 2021 in Varese, Italy. 18 events in rowing and 4 in para rowing.
Medal summary Men
Women
Mixed para-rowing events
Medal table
References
{{European championships in 202 ...
, where they won gold. The following month they won gold again at the World Rowing Cup II regatta in Lucerne. At the
2020 Tokyo Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...
, held in July 2021, the pair set a world's best time of 6:05:33 while winning their semifinal of the lightweight double sculls event. They went on to win the gold medal, finishing ahead of the German and Italian teams.
Rowing Ireland
Rowing Ireland, formerly the Irish Amateur Rowing Union, is the governing body of rowing for Ireland. It is a cross-border organisation administering the sport in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Rowing Ireland is a member of ...