ROWING/Munich World Cup: They say a perfect cup of coffee can sometimes save a disappointing meal, and Ireland's superb lightweight men's four cast a warm glow over an otherwise frustrating morning of heats at the World Cup regatta in Munich yesterday.

Late into the evening, as the sheeting rain added more cut to the biting wind, Ireland's premier heavyweight four found their way through to today's semi-finals with a stirring performance in their repechage.

But the lightweight women's double could not emulate the feat, having failed to make it straight through to the semi-finals through their heat.

The lightweight four had made it clear early on in their race that a repechage was not part of their plans.

The crew of Gearóid Towey, Eugene Coakley, Richard Archibald and Paul Griffin made it look easy as they cut through the choppy waters.

They saw off an early challenge by Denmark's second crew, and then moved clear of a gutsy challenge in the final 500 metres by Belgium.

At the end the Irish had almost six seconds to spare over the Belgians, who also qualified directly for today's semi-finals.

Without looking flustered, the Irish crew set the second fastest time of the day in this class, bettered only by a revitalised Britain, who ended up touching off Italy by one-hundredth of a second in a mad dash to the line as the two qualifiers from the final heat fought it out for bragging rights.

Ireland will not meet their near neighbours - who have former Irish national champion Danny Harte in their boat - in today's semi-finals. Italy, Australia and the Netherlands look the main threats to the Irish in a race scheduled for 4.20pm Irish time.

The men's four took second place to the Czech Republic in their repêchage and booked their place in a semi-final (3.40) with a performance which suggested their fifth and last place in the heat was an aberration.

National coach Harald Jahrling, who deemed the first race "terrible" and put it down as a "shell-shocked" performance, deemed the repechage "much better".

"They are learning," he said.

The phrase might also be used for the other Ireland development crews out here. The under-23 four battled hard in both the heat and the rep, and a good performance in today's C final would make it a productive weekend for them.

For Caroline Ryan in the women's single scull, the first taste of action at this level showed the height of the mountain to be climbed.

She is a tenacious competitor, but was drawn against the world record-holder on the ergometer (rowing machine), France's Sophie Balmary, in the heat. The Pearse Street Garda put her hopes in the adage that ergs don't float. This one did - and how.

Balmary won easily and took the only direct route to the final.

Ryan put two competitors behind her to finish fourth, but was disappointed with her row and her start in particular. In last evening's repêchage she again finished fourth.

The new men's pair of Seán O'Neill and Seán Casey found the powerful tailwind a real spoilsport and finished fifth and last in their heat. But, to their credit, they pushed hard in the final 500 metres of their repêchage to put Switzerland behind them and finish third, a second and a half from qualification.

The women's lightweight double was the big disappointment of the day. While Niamh Ní Cheilleachair "caught a crab" near the end of the heat, it was not decisive in the loss of a chance of progressing for her and crewmate Sinéad Jennings.

Last evening's rep was better - they finished third of five - but this crew will have to improve if it is to make an impression this year.

Jahrling said he was not disappointed with the Ireland performances.

"No, it was fine. We came here to see where we stand. If you try to find athletes and you give yourself, like we have, two years, you have to play with things. You have to look at different combinations.

"We split the heavyweight men's group that went quite well last year (and) made a four and a pair. The four didn't get any cohesion at all here, struggled quite a lot in those conditions. (It was) a brand new combination.

"We will keep doing that until the next World Cup and then put a little line under it and make the next decision."

Regatta NUIG club suspended

NUIG, one of Ireland's strongest clubs, have been suspended by the Irish Amateur Rowing Union (IARU) for a breach of the rules on eligibility. The club were given a 15-month ban, with the final 14 suspended for three years.

The sentence means NUIG will miss Henley Royal Regatta this year, as it is understood the IARU will not sign entry forms over the next month.

The Galway club have an outstanding recent record at the world's top club regatta: they are the holders of the Visitors' Challenge Cup for coxless fours, and also won this event in 2003 in a composite boat with Skibbereen.

The suspension as it stands will not affect this year's Irish National Championships.

The disciplinary action relates to the fielding of intermediate oarsmen as novices.

A sub-committee of the IARU met in Portlaoise on Tuesday night and made the ruling.

NUIG's Johnny Naughton, the club captain, and Ruadhan Cooke appeared before the committee, which was made up of Andrew Wells from Ulster, Dermot Henihan from Munster and Tony Dooley from Leinster.

Last season NUIG had to pay a fine of 500 for fielding an ineligible oarsman, Stuart King, at the National Championships.