O'Neill and Casey in heavyweight four

Rowing: Sean O'Neill and Sean Casey have been drafted into the Ireland heavyweight four which will compete at the final World…

Rowing: Sean O'Neill and Sean Casey have been drafted into the Ireland heavyweight four which will compete at the final World Cup regatta at Lucerne, which begins on Friday week.

The four finished fifth at the Poznan World Cup and Ireland coach Harald Jahrling said it would be changed. Casey, who was part of the four last year, and O'Neill campaigned as a pair at Poznan and at the first World Cup, at Munich. They join Alan Martin and Cormac Folan in the new four, while the men they replace, Sean Jacob and Con Collis, will form a double scull.

Ireland will have a strong team for the event, and the lightweight four of Gearoid Towey, Eugene Coakley, Richard Archibald and Paul Griffin could be Ireland's first crew to win an event at the World Cup outright.

They lead the rankings on 14 points going into Lucerne, with Germany their nearest challengers on 12, and Australia on 11. A win yields eight points and a second place six.

READ MORE

Caroline Ryan, who gained selection as a heavyweight single sculler after impressive performances in Munich and Poznan, has a "99 per cent" chance of going on to Eton, according to Jahrling.

IRELAND TEAMS

Final World Cup Regatta (Lucerne, Switzerland, July 7th to 9th): Men: Four: C Folan, S O'Neill, S Casey, A Martin; Lightweight Four: G Towey, E Coakley, R Archibald, P Griffin; Double Scull: S Jacob, C Collis; Lightweight Scull: R Coakley, T Harnedy; Women: Single Scull: C Ryan; Lightweight Double Scull: S Jennings, N Ni Cheilleachair.

World University Championships (Trakai, Lithuania, August 11th-13th): Men: Four: J Wall, D Barry, P O'Brien, P Murray; Single Scull: R O'Connor; Lightweight Double Scull: D O'Dowd, E Garvey.

Liam Gorman

Liam Gorman

Liam Gorman is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in rowing