A new boat, a fresh medal, and a partnership built on trust, this conversation dives straight into how Fintan McCarthy and Philip Doyle are reinventing Irish rowing momentum on the road to LA.

We pull back the curtain on their whirlwind post-Paris year: Philip navigating shifts in the emergency department before rediscovering his competitive fire, Fintan shifting from lightweight to heavyweight without chasing “dead weight,” and the two of them finding speed after only a handful of rows together.

The Shanghai story is bigger than a bronze. Fintan and Mags Cremen snatched a world title in the mixed double with a one-spin warm-up, proving that shared technique and fearless execution can trump rehearsal.

Then comes the moment that hits hardest: Jake McCarthy’s breakthrough podium in the single, a long-awaited result that Fintan counts among his proudest career highlights.

It’s high performance shaped by real life—family, grief, and the choice to let emotion sharpen, not shake, the blade.