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The Claire Byrne Show

Paul O’Donovan Double Olympic Champion Rower

03 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

1.87 - 6.238 Clare Byrne

The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance.

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Chapter 2: What are the preparations for the LA Olympics 2028?

10.605 - 27.034 Unknown

Well, we're two years out from the LA Olympics in 2028 and preparations are well underway to optimise Ireland's medal chances. One man who knows all about what it takes to win is Ireland's most successful Olympian, the double gold medal winning rower, Paul O'Donovan, who is on the line. Good morning, Paul.

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27.892 - 28.893 Paul O'Donovan

Good morning, Clare. How are you?

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29.033 - 43.612 Unknown

I'm very well and it's lovely to have you with us. I know you're here to talk to us about this new partnership between Sport Ireland and the National Dairy Council, which we'll come to in a minute. But will you tell me what you're up to? Because your weight division, I know, in the Olympics has changed, hasn't it? From lightweight to heavyweight.

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44.133 - 47.858 Unknown

Is that a very big gear change for you to face into or how are you dealing with it?

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48.58 - 69.946 Paul O'Donovan

Um, like, to be honest, it's not a huge gear change at all. Like the rowing is still the same and the stroke that you and the technique and like the training and the training program would be like almost identical pretty much. The only thing is like, so there's the weight class is gone. So you don't have to weigh in before races, you know, which is great.

70.827 - 71.528 Unknown

You can eat more.

72.429 - 72.529

Yeah.

72.509 - 96.289 Paul O'Donovan

A bit, yeah. Well, I mean, the eating depends on how much you're training and stuff. And like, you don't want to be too heavy either, because then to just be kind of fat and excess weight might be slowing down the boat. So, yeah, like it would be a bit heavier come the racing day, but not a huge amount. It's not too much changes because of it.

96.269 - 102.637 Unknown

So it's not a game changer for you in terms of considering whether you would go again in 2028. You're in.

Chapter 3: How has Paul O'Donovan's weight division changed for the Olympics?

186.744 - 191.211 Unknown

Because, you know, some people train on an empty stomach, which I don't know if that's wise or not.

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191.478 - 213.317 Paul O'Donovan

So it's all something that, you know, kind of depends on what people's goals are and what level they're trying to train at. So like at the elite level of rowing and stuff, it's very heavily endurance based. You'll be doing long, long, long hours of training, you know, if you're kind of full time at it and stuff, like several hours a day. So like you have to be eating, you know,

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213.297 - 220.985 Paul O'Donovan

a huge amount before that, you know, a mixture of like kind of protein and carbohydrates and a bit of fats as well and stuff.

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221.625 - 241.465 Paul O'Donovan

But at the same time, if people are kind of busy and they have kind of different training goals and stuff, like I don't think there's a huge issue with kind of doing it, you know, faster, but then they have the opportunity then afterwards to get in their kind of dairy based kind of breakfast for recovery, you know, post exercise. And there's nothing wrong with that then if, you know,

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241.445 - 246.133 Paul O'Donovan

That kind of suits people and they find that they can train better that way.

246.154 - 258.576 Unknown

Just with your own sporting career, did it ever cross your mind that maybe doing the three Olympics would be enough, having had great success at the three Olympics? Or were you always going to go for 2028?

259.754 - 283.139 Paul O'Donovan

I think I was always going to go for it, yeah. I remember being like kids and stuff. We'd heard about this guy, Steve Redgrave, who's a great Great Britain rower. Yes. But I think he'd been to like five Olympics or something and... I think he won medals at all of them, probably gold medals too. And so when we were like four years old, we were like, oh yeah, we'll go ahead and do what he did.

283.159 - 293.513 Paul O'Donovan

I kind of never questioned it. I kind of still, I'm going along that kind of thought process and haven't really questioned it myself so far.

293.573 - 298.26 Unknown

So in your mind, it's Steve Redgrave's five that you have as a target.

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