SINGLE scullers Niall O'Toole and Gearoid Towey swept through to their Paris semi-finals and the lightweight four made a dramatic entrance in the heats.
The two rivals for the world championship sculling seat are now on course to meet in Sunday's final after untroubled opening wins.
O'Toole finished with a clear-water lead over Swiss sculler Micheal Banninger. Towey responded with a seven-second win over Germany's Christain Dahkle.
The Irish lightweight four narrowly missed direct qualification after a crab stopped the boat dead just 400 metres into their heat. By the end of the course the three-length deficit to the leading French crew had been slashed to just 1.5 seconds in a come-back that has established the four as frontrunner's in the class with the Danish Olympic medalists.
The Irish lightweight quad and the London-based sculler Ruth Doyle race their heats today and the women's pair of Vanessa Lawrenson and Debbie Stack face a tough repechage against the British partnership of Dot Blackie and Cath Bishop on their full senior international debut.
Lawrenson and Stack's graduation to the elite has meant change in their club, UCDL. The re-organisation of their senior rowing into international-style light and heavyweight groups has broken up what remained of last year's unbeaten eight and leaves the college racing at this weekend's Women's Henley to a development crew of intermediates and second-year novices.
