Konan Pazzaia

Konan Pazzaia (born 5 July 2001) is an Irish rower. He was a bronze medalist at the European Rowing Championships in 2025.

Early and personal life He was born in Geneva after his mother Sarah Tohill, moved from South Belfast to study for a Ph.D in organic chemistry and married his father Swiss-Italian Pascal Pazzaia. The family moved to Andilly, France when he was two years-old where they remained until he was 15 years-old when they relocated back to Switzerland. He served mandatory national service in the Swiss military as a Swiss citizen. He took up rowing after being inspired seeing Paul O'Donovan and his brother Gary O'Donovan at the 2016 Rio Olympics. His grandparents Maura and Pearse were both teachers in Belfast and he moved to the city to study for a degree in human biology at Queen's University Belfast. Whilst there, Pazzaia began to train with coach John Armstrong and also trained with future U23 World Champion Ciaran Purdy.

At the European Rowing Championships in Plovdiv in May 2025 he competed in the men’s double sculls alongside Olympic champion Fintan McCarthy. They finished second in their semi-final to qualify for the A-final. In the final, they won the bronze medal behind the winning boat from Poland.

Alongside Margaret Cremen, he won the silver medal at the 2026 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam in the mixed double sculls.