Galway rower breaks world record twice on her way to landmark triumph in Poland

GALWAY has a new world champion after Katie O’Brien smashed her way into the record books at the Rowing World Cup held in Poznan in Poland last weekend.

The Clarinbridge woman set not one, but two world records at the championships on her way to capturing the single scull (PR2 1X) event, improving on the bronze medal she won in the same category at the 2019 World Championships in Linz in Austria.

Her semi-final performance last weekend saw her smash a world record that was set in 2018 when she came home in a time of 9mins 32.09 seconds, shaving more than 40 seconds off the previous time of 10mins 13.63 seconds.

That new record didn’t not last long, however, as O’Brien smashed it again in the final, coming home in a time of 9mins 14.65 seconds on her way to the gold medal and the world title.

She just missed out on a second medal at the championships when finishing fourth in the final of the PR2 Mix2X alongside crew partner Steven McGowan against a world-class field with crews from France, the Netherlands, and the bronze medalists from the 2016 Olympics, Poland.

There is no single sculls event for O’Brien to compete in at the Paralympics, so she recently joined forces with fellow Galway Rowing Club member, Steven McGowan, with a target of the 2024 Paris Olympics in mind, and they continue to build towards that dream after another impressive performance last weekend.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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