McCarthy is from
Skibbereen, County Cork. His first experience in rowing was while in primary school, but only started taking the sport seriously when he was 15 after seeing the
London Olympics in 2012. He studied at
University College Cork and graduated with a degree in
physiology. In 2019, he was partnered with
Paul O'Donovan in the men's lightweight double sculls at the
World Rowing Championships held at
Linz-
Ottensheim in Austria, where they won the gold medal and the world championship title. In 2020, he won a bronze in the men's lightweight single sculls at the
2020 European Rowing Championships held in
Poznań, Poland. McCarthy raced with O'Donovan at the
2021 European Rowing Championships, where they won gold. The following month they won gold again at the World Rowing Cup II regatta in Lucerne. At the
2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in July 2021, the pair set a world's best time of 6:05:33 while winning their semifinal of the
lightweight double sculls event. They went on to win the gold medal, finishing ahead of the German and Italian teams. McCarthy and O'Donovan once again represented Ireland at the
2024 Summer Olympics, claiming their second successive gold medal in the
lightweight double sculls. ==References==