Athlone Boat Club member Darragh Collins (left) was part of the Ireland man's four team which claimed first place in the C Final at the World U19 Rowing Championships in Bulgaria

Medal success for Athlone Boat Club rower at U19 World Championships

Ronan Fagan

Published: Fri 7 Aug 2026, 9:58 AM

Athlone Boat Club member Darragh Collins will return from the World U19 Rowing Championships in Bulgaria with a gold medal following Ireland's first place finish in the Men's Four Final C on Friday morning.

Competing against crews from China, Moldova and the host nation Bulgaria, Ireland completed the 2,000 metre course in a time of 6:19.38, almost two seconds ahead of China.

In their opening race on the course in Plovdiv on Thursday afternoon, Darragh and his Irish teammates managed a fourth place finish which was not enough to claim a place in the semi-final of the competition.

Collins was joined in the boat by Cork based rowers, Conal Gillard (Lee RC), Henrikas Janisionis (Lee RC) and Emmett Villing (Neptune RC).