FIONA MURTAGH won a “special” silver medal at the European Rowing Championships – adding to Ireland’s haul at the tournament.
The Galway woman, who won Olympic bronze in Tokyo, finished behind Lauren Henry and ahead of Frida Sanggaard Nielsen.
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And speaking to RTE Sport, Murtagh described the achievement as “special” while vowing “I’ve a long way to go”.
She said: “First singles final, it’s been a long year, a tough year.
“Really special, nice to be able to bring home a medal. An exciting season ahead.
“Throughout the regatta I’ve gained so much confidence. The single is really a confidence boat.
“I had to back myself for the first 20 strokes and be really confident at the front and at the finish.
“It got hard through the k (one kilometre mark) but I could see the field spreading out a little bit.
“I got a bit of a head wind with the wind against my back.
“One I saw those red buoys I was like, ‘there’s nothing left, empty it’ so I’m happy with what I’ve done.
“But I’ve so much to learn still. Some of those girls are new to the field but a lot of them are quite experienced so this is my first step on the ladder.
“I’ve such a long way to go.”
It is Ireland’s second medal at the competition, coming a day after Fintan McCarthy and Konan Pazzaia won bronze in Plovdiv.
The pair came third in the men’s double sculls for McCarthy’s first heavyweight medal having won two Olympic gold medals alongside Paul O’Donovan in the lightweight category.
The medal for Queen’s University Belfast rower Pazzaia is his first major medal of his senior career.
Pazzaia was a late stand-in for Paul O’Donovan, who was absent from the event.
Earlier, Mags Cremin and Zoe Hyde narrowly missed out on the podium in the women’s double sculls.
They came home fourth in 6:55.73 as Dutch pair Roos de Jong and Tessa Dullemans took gold.
There was further disappointment for Ireland in the lightweight categories as Izzy Clements, making her senior international debut, finished just outside the medals in the women’s lightweight single sculls with a battling fourth-place finish.
Jake McCarthy, brother of Fintan, also fell agonisingly short in the lightweight men’s single sculls, clocking 7:01.45 to place fourth.
