Four Skibereen rowers have been a long way from home in recent weeks. Olympic silver medalists Gary and Paul O'Donovan, along with world champions Shane O'Driscoll and Mark O'Donovan have been training in New Zealand.
This week, they competed in the New Zealand Rowing Championships at Laka Karapiro just south of Hamilton on the country's north island.
Paul O'Donovan took bronze in the Premier Single Sculls, a race in which he faced some of rowing's top international heavyweights. The four Skibbereen men also took bronze in the Premier four.
They've made a real impression in New Zealand. Both on the water and off.
"You hear them before you see them," New Zealand's One News said regarding the four Irish rowers.
Paul O'Donovan also told viewers why he was so glad to be on the other side of the world at the moment. "It's winter time at home in Ireland and there's lots of snow and ice and wind and misfortune and misery and that type of thing."
Friends in New Zealand warned Shane O'Driscoll about the climate into which he was stepping. "Irish people over here warned me to stay out of the sun and wear factor 50 all the time. I was petrified the first few days I came, I'd hardly go out in the sun at all."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbzZH27ogZw
