Bronze medallist Doyle begins journey to LA 2028

Philip Doyle returns to action at the European Championships

Olympic bronze medallist Philip Doyle will return to international action for the first time since the Paris Games at the European Rowing Championships later this month.

The regatta in Plovdiv, Bulgaria begins on 29 May and marks the start of the new Olympic cycle for Ireland‘s rowers aiming towards Los Angeles 2028.

Doyle, who won bronze in Paris last summer with Daire Lynch in the men’s double sculls, will move to the quad sculls and compete alongside Ronan Byrne, Adam Murphy and Andrew Sheehan.

The Banbridge rower is joined in the squad by two other athletes from Northern Ireland, Ross Corrigan and Konan Pazzaia.

Enniskillen’s Corrigan, an Olympic finalist in Paris, joins Lynch in the men’s pair, while Pazzaia will be partnered by double Olympic champion Finton McCarthy in the men’s double sculls.

McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan made history by winning Ireland’s first rowing gold medal in Tokyo in 2021 in the lightweight double sculls before successfully defending their title in Paris three years later.

With lightweight rowing removed from the Olympic programme in 2028, McCarthy will now row as a heavyweight.

Belfast's Pazzaia missed out on qualification for Paris but the Queen’s University Boat Club rower is now focused on making the team for Los Angeles.

The 2025 season will see two World Cups in Varese and Lucerne with the climax coming in September at the World Championships in Shanghai.