Irish make good start at Henley

ROWING: A good day for Irish crews on the first day of Henley Royal Regatta coincided with the announcement of a strong Irish team for the final World Cup regatta at Lucerne starting tomorrow week.

Sam Lynch and Gearoid Towey are entered as a heavyweight pair for Lucerne, but this is provisional, a fallback if they have problems making the weight for the lightweight double, in which they are also entered.

Thor Nilsen, who is in charge of Ireland's lightweight programme, said he was "95 per cent certain" that the two would make the weight. "They are going like a rocket, but we must see do they continue to go like a rocket at the weight," he added.

If Lynch and Towey, with three World Championship golds between them in other classes, can perform at the top level in this Olympic-class boat they would move into the reckoning for honours in Athens.

Tim Harnedy and Eugene Coakley will be Ireland's second crew in the lightweight double in Lucerne, although Harnedy has recently suffered an injury which has kept him off the water for three days.

Nilsen is optimistic the Irish crews will make their mark at what will be a last test before the World Championhips next month. "If Tim is in top shape I expect both crews to be in the top 11 in Lucerne," said the Swede. A top 11 place in the lightweight double or lightweight four in Milan qualifies the boat for the Olympic Games next year.

Fiola Foley joins Sinead Jennings in the women's lightweight double, with Heather Boyle competing in the single.

At Henley yesterday, six of the nine Irish crews made it through. The three fallers were, predictably, the college eights in the Princess Elizabeth, who had difficult draws - Coleraine went out to Kingston Grammar School, Methodist College, Belfast, to Eton College and St Joseph's of Galway to Belmont Hill School from the United States.

"We couldn't make any excuses, we were beaten by a very good crew," said Peter Heaney, the St Joseph's coach.

Workmanlike wins yesterday kept the two Irish crews in the Thames Cup, Lady Elizabeth and Lady Victoria, on course to meet tomorrow.

NUIG beat the University of West of England in the Temple Cup, and look to be Ireland's best hope to go further in this class. They face Oxford Brookes B, while Trinity and Queen's, who also won yesterday, will need extraordinary performances to make it through today, as they face, respectively, Princeton's A crew and Harvard.

UCD acquitted themselves well in the Britannia, beating the Cambridge University Lightweights by two lengths. They face Nottingham and Union RC today.