Leonora Kennedy finished just outside the medals at the European Rowing Championship in Serbia last weekend. Rowing in the Women’s Pairs for Ireland with partner Lisa Dilleen, the Enniskillen rower finished fourth having narrowly failed to overhaul the Netherlands crew in the final. The pair are still getting used to each other having only competed regularly since March and their preparation has been disrupted by injury on occasions, so despite not making the podium Leonora was happy with their performance.

“It’s always disappointing when you don’t come away with a medal, but we did what we could on the day,” she said. “Previously we were ranked fourth or fifth so we were quite pleased to get so close to the Dutch girls. We improved which was good. We had some racing in Italy a few weeks back but the competition was not as tough as it was last weekend. We knew we had to step up and we learnt from each race and were pleased with our performance there on Sunday. Each race we are learning because we are still quite a new combination, so we are learning how we both work and we are gelling more and more every race. We did a great time but obviously we need to be a little bit faster. The first 500 (metres) the Dutch took off and we reeled them in and reeled them in, so for the next few races our aim will be to go out harder over the first 500 to stay up there. Then if we can reel them in again hopefully we will be in front. That just comes with time in the boat, which we have now.” The pair’s first heat in Belgrade saw them finish second, four seconds behind the much fancied Romanian winners. That runner up position meant they went into a repechage with the first two boats qualifying for the final, and they quickly took the front and never looked under pressure as they eased home to secure their berth in the A final.

Although that final did not bring them the medal they were looking for, there were promising signs for them to take into the rest of the season, starting with a trip to France in just over two weeks.

“The next regatta is the Second World Cup in France and that is quite an important one as that is where the World Championships are held next year, which will be the qualifying regatta for the Olympics,” explained Leonora. “It will be really good to get a race in there. Obviously it will be on the world stage so there will be the Europeans and also the rest of the world like New Zealand, Australia, Canada and USA who are big and dominant on the rowing scene. It will be a step up again in terms of competition.” The step up in competition is something Leonora will have to get used to as she aims for a spot in the 2016 Olympic Games. She is training up to three times a day in a bid to achieve her dream and the latest result has whetted her appetite for more. “Coming fourth at the weekend gives us a little bit more drive. It makes you want it more,” she said. “The top ten boats at the World Championships in 2015 qualify for the Olympics so the world championships this year in August in Amsterdam will give us a good insight as to where we are.”