Rowing: The Irish men's heavyweight four qualified for the semi-final of the World Championships in Eton today by finishing second in their repechage behind France.
Cormac Folan, Sean O'Neill, Sean Casey and Alan Martin finished in a time of 5.58.21.
At the three-quarter stage the Irishmen edged ahead but were clawed back on the line by France with the Czech team in third.
"We were very pleased with our row today," said Folan. "We feel we made significant progress with our race plan.
"We targeted the Czechs as a crew we could beat so it was satisfying to finish almost two seconds up on them."
Ireland finished 10th at last year's championships and the crew are confident of bettering that finish this time around.
"We feel we're showing the consistency needed at this level with another sub six minute performance today," Folan added.
Ireland's heavyweight single scullers, Caroline Ryan and Sean Jacob, missed out on semi-finals spots by finishing fourth in their respective repechages.
Ireland's three lightweight boats take to the water in the morning.