Olympic champions Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy were defeated at the World Cup in Lucerne for the first time after four years of international competition.
They performed admirably in their final at the Rowing World Cup III this morning in Lucerne, Switzerland. However, they were edged out at the finish line.
The pair were the slowest to leave the starting block in ideal rowing conditions, but this did not worry them because their strength would emerge in the middle third.
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The Swiss, who led the World Cup series and were also favorites, and the French both got off to the best starts.
Ireland began the race in fourth place, but as it neared halfway, they moved up to third, with France still in the lead and the Swiss following.
When the Swiss started to pass the French, Ireland launched a charge and quickly caught up with them both.
Then Ireland turned up the heat, pushing themselves into the lead at the 1500-meter mark and quickly gaining a half-length advantage over the Swiss.
As they increased their stroke rate, Paul and Fintan started to put down a marker, but suddenly the French passed the Swiss and started to pressure Ireland.
It was neck-and-neck in a tense and dramatic finish as the flying French drew level, and the French narrowly edged Ireland as they both crossed the finish line.
They barely crossed the finish line in first place thanks to their forward momentum at a crucial moment.
Prior to today's action, Paul and Fintan defeated the Swiss double in their semi-final on Saturday, but it was a challenging race for the Irish team, which finished just a second ahead of the Swiss.
Paul and Fintan qualified the fastest, clocking in at that time on Friday in a heat, and they entered the A Final.
The 2020 Olympic champions dominated that heat and won it by a whopping 10 seconds over the next boat, placing them in the top spot and advancing them directly to the final with the fastest time in the heat by nearly five seconds.
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