LOCAL and national champion, proud woman of Skibbereen, Olympic bronze medallist, and The Echo Sportswoman of the Year.

Highly talented Emily Hegarty, Olympic rowing medallist and the pride of Cork and Skibbereen, is no stranger to winning rowing medals, and setting standards.

From Skibbereen in County Cork, the 23-year-old started rowing in 2009, and among her highlights are winning silver at the 2019 World U23 Rowing Championships in Florida and winning the Irish Rowing Championships that same year. She also won bronze in the 2020 European U23 Championships in Germany.

But the big highlight was to come last year, when the talented Skibbereen athlete and her fellow crewmates — Eimear Lambe, Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh — set the hearts of the nation racing in winning a stunning bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Queue the excitement.

This was to catapult Emily, Aifric, Fiona and Eimear into superstar status.

In that all-or-nothing race, they left it late and finished powerfully to win a fantastic bronze in a thriller at the Tokyo Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo Bay.

The delight was immediate, the excitement instant around the county and the world, where hundreds of thousands had tuned in to see if Ireland could take a medal in the final.

And in doing so these women made history in winning Irish rowing’s first women’s Olympic Medal.

It was one of the best days ever of Irish rowing as they stormed to bronze, stroked by Emily, and we celebrated another fantastic achievement on the water. And a huge day of pride for Skibbereen Rowing Club, where they now celebrate their numerous Olympians.

And despite the pandemic, they managed to celebrate in a socially-distanced way in Skibbereen.

BATTLE

In that final they had fought a hard battle to storm back from fifth spot to clinch the bronze in fine style.

It was to bring Team Ireland its first medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the achievements of Emily, Aifric, Eimear and Fiona were toasted everywhere.

It was a thriller, with Ireland in fifth as they passed the half-way mark. Known for a strong finish, they then turned on the power, passed China and set about chasing down Team GB, who they passed in the closing stages to take bronze.

Favourites Australia took gold with Netherlands taking silver.

Speaking after the race, the thrilled Irish crew described the strategies they worked with: “The race was a blur really, it went by so fast. Eimear was calling our strategies out, and it felt like she was calling them early, but then I looked out and we were at that point. It was very quick. It wasn’t the best race, but we always say we want to be the best on our worst day too, and we pulled that off.

“We always know that the second half is our stronger part, so we tried to stay with the pack as much as we can, so at this stage their strategies are probably to put as much time into us in the first half. And they did that!”

Speaking to RTÉ a delighted Emily Hegarty took her place alongside the achievements of Paul and Gary O’Donovan at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

“It’s really exciting that only five years later there’s a women’s crews medal (and a heavyweight medal) and it’s really really exciting for all the youngsters in Skibb. coming up, that there’s no limits. 

Five years ago I definitely didn’t think that I’d be here with an Olympic medal around my neck but it’s definitely going to give a massive boost to home, and give all those young girls coming up a bit of belief, boys and girls, and hopefully there will be more medals out of the week.”

And there was, when Skibbereen’s Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy took a stunning Olympic gold, and Ireland went rowing crazy.

She added: “It’s a really really great team to be part of, everybody backed each other, and everyone has been pushing each other on, it’s a really competitive environment we have for ourselves, so that’s how I think we got the most out of our training, our crews, just always trying to get the best out of each other.”

Speaking about being not only an Olympian but a bronze medal Olympian, Emily said “it’s still a bit hard to believe to be honest, it’s really exciting to be part of.”

Emily now studies Biological Sciences at UCC where she has continued her rowing with the university, but gets back to Skibbereen at every chance she gets.

Which isn’t many as one can imagine, the demands of being an international rower means training sessions can sometimes be up to three times a day out at the National Rowing Centre in Farran.

JOY

The joy is Olympic bronze is very much still in her thoughts.

Asked what it was like to take part in an Olympics during a pandemic, Emily says she doesn’t know any different. Of course she can’t, she has nothing to compare it to.

“But it was a fantastic experience to be at the Olympic Games and to represent my country."

And it was “wonderful” to arrive home to Ireland and be greeted by her parents at Dublin Airport.

Describing the moment when she realised she had just become a medal-winning Olympian, Emily says it was a fantastic moment.

“It was amazing, but it did take a while for it to sink in. When you’re younger and coming up through the ranks, it’s an amazing feeling to be part of it.”

And they were buzzing arriving back home to Ireland, where they were greeted by family at Dublin Airport.

Emily’s parents Jerry and Mary were there at the airport to share this special moment with their daughter, and Emily’s sister Alice joined from Australia on Facetime.

“We hadn’t been home for the bones of two months, as we’d been on training camp first and then went on to Tokyo. Even with no medal it would have been a special moment to see them, it was incredible to see them, and even better to bring something home to them,” which just happened to be an Olympic bronze medal, a rare achievement in any athlete’s life.

Emily can remember being at the National Rowing Centre in Cork in 2016 with Aoife Casey training for the junior championships and watching on the TV as Paul and Gary O’Donovan won Olympic silver for Ireland.

“Yea, I was there with Aoife training for the juniors and we watched Paul and Gary win silver, it was amazing.”

And that was to bring more youngers to rowing, and more again have taken up the sport since Emily became a role model following her achievements.

“Yes, it’s a situation where you don’t see yourself as a role model, but you remember that we had so many role models growing up. 

There are so many successful females doing well in sport, it’s really cool, and it’s inspiring to other people.”

Emily herself had role models like Sanita Puspure to look up when she was taking up the sport of rowing.

“I remember watching Sanita when she was at London Olympics in 2012, and she was the only rower there from Ireland, and she was a big figurehead.”

And looking to her own future, Emily has her eyes on the prize for Paris 2024.

“We’re in training camp in Italy at the moment and it’s going well,” says Emily, “and we’re preparing for the Europeans in August and the World Championships in September.”

Looking to the next Olympics in France in just two years, Emily says it’s an exciting time for Irish rowing.

“Yes, we have such a great group of girls at the moment in Irish rowing, it’s an exciting prospect what Ireland can achieve in the coming years.

“And it’s great to be part of it.”

For Paris 2024 Olympics, the dream goes on.