World Rowing Championships: Two silvers for Ireland as Henry claims gold for GB

Ireland brought the 2026 World Rowing Championships to a close with two silver medals on the final day of racing at the Bosbaan in Amsterdam.

Belfast’s Konan Pazzaia and partner Margaret Cremen were second in the mixed doubles sculls behind the Netherlands.

It was Cremen’s second medal of the championships after her thrilling victory with Zoe Hyde in the women’s double sculls on Friday.

Fiona Murtagh put up a stout defence of her world single sculls title but was beaten to gold by Great Britain’s Lauren Henry, in what was a reversal of last year’s result.

Silver for Scott and Stratton in world quad sculls final

After coming third in the semi-finals of the double sculls earlier on Sunday, Cremen and Pazzaia delivered another excellent performance to claim the silver medal.

Pazzaia, who is from Switzerland and has a Belfast-born mother, has become an increasingly important member of Ireland's sculling group.

He came through Club de l'Aviron Nyon before he joined the Irish High Performance pathway while studying Biological Sciences at Queen's University Belfast.

Pazzaia won Under-23 world bronze in the double sculls in 2022 and the U23 world title in the same event the following year.

In 2025 he won European Championship bronze in the men's double with Fintan McCarthy, and a World Cup bronze in the same boat.

Earlier in these championships, Pazzaia didn’t hide his disappointment with the performance of the men’s quad sculls, who were eliminated in the heats and were nine second slower than every other boat,but he leaves Amsterdam with world silver as the Irish crew finished second behind the Dutch crew.

Reigning world champion Murtagh produced another outstanding performance in the Women's Single Sculls final as she finished second behind Henry, with Olympic champion Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands in third.

The silvers on the final day left Ireland seventh in the medal table with a gold and two silvers, with the Netherlands topping the standings on home water with four golds, three silvers and a bronze medal.

The silver for Hannah Scott and Finnola Stratton in the women’s quad sculls helped Great Britain to fifth place with two golds, four silvers and two bronzes.