Double Olympic champion Fintan McCarthy has described some of the criticism around Irish rowing last year as “very heavy on a certain perspective”, adding that, in his view, “that’s what sells papers”.
Both Rowing Ireland and Sport Ireland appeared before an Oireachtas committee in January to address concerns around athlete safeguarding and welfare within rowing’s high-performance set-up from 2021 to 2024.
The concerns arose following a series of interviews with some former Irish Olympic rowers, including two-time world champion Sanita Puspure, in the Sunday Independent.
“Reading the articles, I was surprised by some of it,” said McCarthy. “I obviously had my own perspective of some of what was included in those articles. But at the end of the day, everyone has their own version of reality, I guess. And you’re never going to get everyone totally on the same page.
“I just think maybe it was very heavy on a certain perspective, but I guess that’s what sells papers though.”
