REVEALED: The punishing training schedule that helped Ireland’s rowing heroes to an Olympic final

We're big fans of the rowing here at SportsJOE. We even queue for the stuff...

https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/763328386878046208 We thought we were dedicated but the work put in by Team Ireland's Claire Lambe and Sinead Lynch (neé Jennings) to help them reach their first ever Olympic final is something else. The Dublin-Donegal pairing clinched a spot in Thursday's Women's Lightweight Double Sculls after a superb showing in Rio this afternoon. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/763714363161280512 Anyone that followed RTE's Road to Rio documentary series will be well aware of the slog and sacrifice involved in getting to the Olympics. Lambe and Jennings, all the while, were putting the time in - at the gym and in the water - as the Olympics neared. In an interview carried out by UCD before Lambe headed off for Rio, she revealed the training programme that has got both herself and Jennings so far. Away from her career as a Mechanical Engineer, Lambe undertakes a seriously dedicated regime. She targeted a place at Rio in 2013 and has worked tirelessly to get there. She trains every day with a day's break every three weeks. Her typical day looks like this:

Two to three sessions per day, which either kick off on the water in Inniscarra Lake, Cork or on the rowing machines. Weight sessions also play a big part in conditioning, with about three sessions per week, although they only have the one session on a Sunday. According to Lambe, Sunday's 'kind of feel like a day off'.

Lambe receives minimal funding towards her rowing ambitions and the low profile of rowing does not help when it comes to sponsorship. That may all change if Lambe and Lynch can claim a medal on Thursday. It's the least their efforts deserve. Listen to the GAA Hour football show – Wooly is joined by Paul Galvin, Aidan O’Shea, Senan Connell and Conán Doherty. Subscribe here on iTunes.