The remarkable odyssey of Trinity's B eights crew continued yesterday as they qualified for the third round of the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. On a day when a battling Garda crew were beaten in the Thames, Trinity A also made the third round of the Temple, a feat emulated by Neptune in the Wyfold, for coxless fours.

Trinity's feat in making the Friday at Henley with two crews is admirable - their B crew had to qualify, yet has since won two races in the main draw, including having two lengths to spare over Abingdon School yesterday. They will almost certainly exit today, however, as they face the formidable (and seeded) Oxford Brookes A crew (their B crew did not make it into the second round).

Trinity A only beat Lady Margaret BC by a length yesterday, but the result is misleading as they eased up near the end. They face, strangely enough, another Trinity today, but it is Trinity College from Hartford in the United States.

Trinity will be hoping for better luck against the Americans than UCC had against Princeton yesterday, the Cork college crew losing by two thirds of a length in a very fast race.

The fastest time of the day in the Thames for club crews, six minutes 46 seconds, came in the race in which Garda had to give way to seeded crew Molesey. The Irish crew battled hard after going behind by three lengths at one stage and were eventually beaten by 1 1/4 lengths.

Neptune, who made it hard on themselves on Wednesday and only won by six feet, beat Bradford-on-Avon, who had also struggled in the previous round, by 1 3/4 lengths yesterday in the Wyfold. The Irish crew now meet Scottish club Clyde Amateur, who have had good wins in their two previous races.

The Irish line-up for the final World Cup regatta of the year, next weekend at Lucerne, contains a number of surprises. There will be no lightweight four entry; and instead two of that crew, Neville Maxwell and Tony O'Connor, will compete as a lightweight pair.

Coach John Holland last night explained that Brendan Dolan had been ruled out through injury and in the absence of reserves the four had to pull out. The ever-changing composition of the lightweight double scull this time features the novel pairing of the experienced Niall O'Toole and John Armstrong, the latter now in his late 30s.