ROWING WORLD CUP REGATTATHE IRELAND lightweight four turned it on over the second half of their heat at the World Cup regatta in Lucerne yesterday to qualify directly for their semi-final.
Two other Irish boats will join them at that stage today. The men's pair of Jonno Devlin and Seán Casey showed fighting spirit to get through their repechage last evening, while the men's heavyweight four moved into the semi-finals by default after other crews withdrew because of medical reasons.
The lightweight four took the direct route to the semi - but only after a faltering start. The crew of Eugene Coakley, Gearóid Towey, Richard Archibald and strokeman Paul Griffin were off the pace for the first third of the race, but they covered the rest of the course in impressive style, seeing off the United States and giving long-time leaders China a run for their money in the closing stages.
Ireland finished 1.38 seconds behind China, with the US landing the other qualification place.
Germany won their heat in the fastest time of the day, but Ireland coach John Holland said he remained confident his crew will be able to master them when the time comes.
The Germans and the Irish will both contend for Olympic qualification in just over two weeks in Poland. Ireland get their chance to test themselves against Britain, the other heat winners yesterday, in today's semi-final.
Harald Jahrling, who coaches the heavyweight crews, was very pleased with the performance of Devlin and Casey, who won a hammer-and-tongs battle with Britain's second crew of Oliver Moore and Tom Parker to take the second qualification place in their repechage. The margin was only 0.11 of a second. "It's getting better," said Jahrling.
This crew, which has had a mixed season, has been targeted at landing a place in Beijing come the Olympic Qualifier.
In the heat, the pair had contested the early stages, but there was only one qualification place on offer and New Zealand's George Bridgewater and Nathan Twaddle, who have a gold and two silver medals from the last three World Championships, nailed it down early. Ireland fell back to fifth and last in the second half of the race to conserve energy. "We didn't really plan to race all the way against New Zealand," said Jahrling. The men's heavyweight four made it through when the Czech Republic and Britain's second crew pulled out, leaving only the 12 required for semi-finals.
The Ireland unit will need to improve to make an impression. They had a disappointing heat. With France, the Netherlands and Britain annexing the three places marked for qualification, Ireland ended up in a contest for fourth with Argentina. The South Americans took the honour, with Ireland fifth and last.
Corkman Richard Coakley celebrated his 25th birthday yesterday, but Lady Luck was not in giving mood. Coakley, who competes in the lightweight double scull with Cathal Moynihan, got what Holland called "the draw from hell" in last evening's repechage.
Australia and Denmark - world champions for the last two years - duly landed the two qualification spots. Coakley and Moynihan finished fourth and will contest this morning's C final.
