Zoe Hyde and Mags Cremen win gold for Ireland at World Rowing Championships

Zoe Hyde and Mags Cremen won gold for Ireland in the women’s double sculls at the World Rowing Championships in the Netherlands.The Irish duo were the fastest qualifiers for the A final, with Friday afternoon’s racing delayed for over an hour due to adverse weather conditions in Amsterdam. After a conservative start, the Dutch pair of Roos De Jong and Benthe Boonstra holding the lead, Hyde and Cremen maintained the gap to gold at just under half a second.Upping their stroke rate at the halfway point, they quickly pulled level with the Dutch and were neck-and-neck as they sped past the stand, the Dutch cheered on by a strong home support.The Irish boat opened up a two-meter lead by the line, finishing in 6:43.38, 1.03 seconds ahead of De Jong and Boonstra in second. Bronze went to Switzerland’s Salome Ulrich and Fabienne Schweizer.READ MOREEarlier, Fiona Murtagh finished first in the third quarter-final in the women’s single sculls, seeing her through to Saturday’s semi-final (2.12pm Irish time). Fintan McCarthy will also be in semi-final action on Saturday (2.19pm), finishing third in his quarter-final in the men’s single sculls.And in the women’s pair B final, Imogen Magner and Natalie Long finished fifth in 7:14.03.