‘There’s a lot more I could be doing’: Fintan McCarthy on the valuable lessons from defeat

Most athletes will tell you there’s often more valuable lessons in defeat than in victory, only such was Fintan McCarthy’s medal-winning streak in championship rowing those lessons were becoming increasingly skewed.After McCarthy failed to make the A final in the single sculls at last month’s World Championships in Amsterdam, it meant for the first time in eight years he’s finished a rowing season without being a world or Olympic champion. Except for 2020, when the pandemic finished that season before it started.At the midway spin in the latest Olympic cycle, and the further distancing from the discontinued Olympic lightweight events, the Skibbereen rower was also competing for the first time in the heavyweight single. He successfully partnered with Mags Cremen to win mixed doubles gold last year, and bronze with Philip Doyle in the doubles. “I’ve been a world champion every year since 2019, a world or Olympic champion in some event,” he says. “So that feeling of there’s more to be done is a good motivation. Especially when things have gone right for so long. To be reminded that you still have to get everything right, make sure you’re ticking all the boxes, is a really good lesson to learn.READ MORE“Some of it was out of my control, but a lot of it was in my control as well. So just taking ownership of what I need to work on to get better will help.”Cremen won another gold in Amsterdam with Zoe Hyde, with Fiona Murtagh also winning silver, and McCarthy says their success proved inspiring.“At first, obviously, I was really disappointed with the result, but I think that just came as a result of being used to success. A lot of the time, especially during the year, I was telling myself it would be okay because it’s happened before. But sometimes, I guess it’s not okay, sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you’re hoping, the way you want.“But I think it also made me realise that for whatever reasons, I just didn’t have that work done this year, whether it was training or maybe a bit of the mental side of things.“I think that I wasn’t far off. I had a really good last two months, leading into the World Champs. And I thought that might be enough, but there’s a difference between thinking you might be all right and knowing that you’ve got the work done. Team Ireland ambassador and double Olympic gold medallist rower Fintan McCarthy. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho “I think seeing the success of the women’s double and Fiona was what I’m probably going to take most from the championships. It was one of the most inspiring displays I’ve seen in a very long time. And I was training alongside Fiona for the last few weeks, even just to see how she’s handled a lot of her setbacks this year. And in the final few weeks, it just kind of gave me a kick up the ass, really, and showed me that there’s a lot more I could be doing.”McCarthy also intends on renewing his partnership with Paul O’Donovan, who didn’t compete at all this year, as he focused on his medical career.[ Fintan McCarthy says criticism of Irish rowing was ‘very heavy on a certain perspective’Opens in new window ]“I hear he’s training hard, and I think we’ll see him again soon. We’re in touch a little bit. At the moment we’re just focusing on our own things, so there’s no solid plans yet. But I think the eventual goal is that we’ll all be back training in the centre together at some point. It will make for a really competitive group.”Fintan McCarthy was speaking at the Spar partnership with Team Ireland that supports the Community Sports Fund 2026