Tokyo 2020: Record number of rowers to represent Ireland in Olympic Games

Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy will compete in the lightweight men's double sculls

A record number of rowers have officially been selected to represent Ireland at the Tokyo Olympics.

Team Ireland have confirmed 13 participants for this summer's Games including Rio 2016 silver medallist Paul O'Donovan.

O'Donovan is part of the lightweight men's double sculls.

With rowing first up on the schedule for Irish athletes, Sanita Puspure will be the first Team Ireland member to compete at Tokyo 2020.

Puspure is a two-time women's single sculls World Championship winner and will take part in her third Olympics.

'We are going in with high ambitions'

O'Donovan, who will partner fellow Skibbereen native Fintan McCarthy in the men's lightweight double sculls, said: "The Olympic Games are a really special competition, and as a rower it is often what you are driving towards.

"Each Olympic games is unique in its own way, with Tokyo being no exception, and as a squad we are going into them with high ambitions.

"We have worked hard since we set our Olympic goal, and it is nice to be officially selected ahead of the final weeks of preparation. Fintan and I are ready to push on and excited about doing some racing, and we can see that our teammates are equally driven and striving for excellence."

'We can achieve alongside the world's best'

Performance Director Antonio Maurogiovanni added that Ireland were aiming to be competitive with the record number of crews selected.

"This is a big moment for us, and we are going to the Olympic Games with the largest squad of Irish rowers in history and with a record number of six crews qualified," he said.

"I am very proud to be working with this group of athletes, coaches and administrators. Each of them has put in a considerable amount of work these past few years in preparation for Tokyo. The athletes and coaches' dedication has shown how determined they are to represent Ireland at the highest level.

"We all must remember that the majority of this team, coaches included, is at the very first Olympic Games, which confirm the excellent job that coaches and athletes have done.

"We're a small country, but we've proven we can perform and achieve alongside the world's best. As a team, we are not just satisfied to go to the Olympics to make up numbers, but we are going with the ambitions to be as competitive as possible."

Team Ireland Rowers for Tokyo 2020

Lightweight Men's Double Scull (LM2X)

Fintan McCarthy (Cork)

Paul O'Donovan (Cork)

Gary O'Donovan (Cork) - Reserve

Women's Single (W1X)

Sanita Puspure (Cork)

Men's Double Scull (M2X)

Ronan Byrne (Cork)

Philip Doyle (Belfast)

Daire Lynch (Clonmel) - Reserve

Women's Four (W4-)

Emily Hegarty (Cork)

Fiona Murtagh (Galway)

Eimear Lambe (Dublin)

Aifric Keogh (Galway)

Tara Hanlon (Cork) - Reserve

Women's Pair (W2-)

Monika Dukarska (Kerry)

Aileen Crowley (Kerry)

Lightweight Women's Double Scull (LW2X)

Aoife Casey (Cork)

Margaret Cremen (Cork)

Lydia Heaphy (Cork) - Reserve