ROWING: In the early hours of yesterday morning Sam Lynch slips quietly and quickly out of the thronged Flaherty's Irish bar in the centre of Seville. The man who had successfully defended his lightweight single sculls title would like to say some goodbyes, but he realises if he does another hour could pass before he would escape the well-wishers.

The cameo reflects a key part of the personality of Ireland's greatest oarsman: hugely popular but very much his own man.

This singularity could make the next two years fascinating to follow. Lynch has decided not to try to add a third single sculls title, opting instead to attempt to be part of a lightweight double scull, an Olympic-class boat. His focus is now on Athens 2004.

The road there may have many twists. Lynch has a long-standing coaching relationship with Thor Nilsen, and a new double coached by Nilsen would seem the ideal formation. But as the controversy which blew up yesterday shows, few things are simple in Irish rowing, and Lynch's relationship with the highly-rated Scandinavian may not be immune.

Lynch has his own views about such things, but again, this articulate man has opted to plough his own furrow, not joining in the criticism of management structures, or at least not yet. His rowing focus is paramount.

That focus was supremely evident on Saturday as Lynch confirmed his position as the world's top lightweight single sculler. Here was an Irishman winning a second successive world title, but the most notable thing was that this was what everyone expected - not least the athlete himself, who was, extraordinarily, happy to chat with supporters only hours before the final.

When he took to the water his concentration level was never in doubt. Double Olympic medallist Anthony Edwards led off as expected, but Lynch had the race in hand by the middle stages.

"I knew the Australian was fast but I knew he had no last 500, or at least on his form I hoped he had no last 500!" Lynch explained. "Once I got the lead at 500 I said, 'okay, no one's coming back at me' ."

In fact, someone did come back at him as Italy's Stefano Basalini finished like a train. But Lynch, who had been boosted by the support of the Irish crowd on the Barqueta bridge 750 metres from the end, had enough in the tank to hold off Basalini.

Asked afterwards if he felt Lynch would fall before his challenge, the 1998 world champion said simply "no". "He is a very intelligent athlete," he added later.

Indeed Lynch is a second-year medical student in Trinity College and has been effectively managing two full-time vocations. Next season brings the new challenge of a double, which may involve questions about his weight, which often pushes the upper edges of the lightweight limit of 72.5 kilos. This means a partner might have to come in much lighter than the average of 70 kilos.

But he firmly believes there is the talent out there to form a crew which can launch a successful bid for glory in the double in Athens.

The performance of the Ireland lightweight four in winning the B final yesterday morning, placing them seventh in the world, showed that talent is there. Neil Casey is only 21, Richard Archibald 24 and Paul Griffin 23, but along with 28-year-old Derek Holland they targeted beating the 2001 champions Austria and did this, holding off a late push by Poland to win by 0.66 of a second.

"I've never been in a crew which just wanted it so badly," Holland said.

The same could be said of Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell, who produced the performance of the championships in winning the men's pair on Saturday in a stunning time of six minutes 14.27 seconds - axing more than four seconds off the old record in an attempt to blow away the challenge of Australians Drew Ginn and James Tomkins.

They achieved this so emphatically that the Australians could manage only fourth.