Blessington offers appetising double

If you want to see top-class rowing this weekend drive over the bridge near Blessington tomorrow and you will be spoiled for choice. On one side the Rowing News: Metropolitan Regatta, one of the biggest and most attractive of the year, will be on show while on the other will be the chance of catching sight of a training run by one of the best crews in the world.

Ireland's men's lightweight four may have been operating in the shadow of the rightly-praised lightweight double scull since both qualified for the Olympics at Milan last year, but the four's prospects in Athens are just as hot.

The silver medal at the World Cup regatta in Munich last weekend confirmed the potential for glory in Athens. Only Italy stood between the Ireland four and gold, and as Richard Archibald, the bowman in the crew, puts it: "We won't let it happen again."

The Irish have shown themselves to be capable of fast starts, Archibald agrees, which has left them with few inhibitions when faced with world-class opposition. "The Danes and the Italians are fast starters. It is good to be with them. Psychologically."

But getting out in front is not their only way of racing. "That's just how it is turning out. We're quite a powerful crew - whoever is in the boat."

The lack of a settled line-up has marked out the four from the already-picked double, but it certainly has not weakened them. "We were under pressure," agrees Archibald, "but I think that has a lot to do with how well we are racing. We are used to pressure."

Munich confirmed that Niall O'Toole brings something to the boat, and he will stay in the crew for the final World Cup event in Lucerne in three weeks. Tim Harnedy, who was part of the crew which qualified the boat for Athens, will compete as a lightweight single sculler in Lucerne.

Heavyweight single sculler Sean Casey, another to prove his mettle in Munich, has been selected to compete at the Olympic Qualifier, also in Lucerne, which begins on Sunday week.

The women's lightweight double, which also finished eighth overall in Munich, will also hope to qualify in Lucerne, as will Derek Holland and Neil Casey, two athletes from the lightweight programme who will compete in the heavyweight pair.

The prospect of such big international challenges in the near future could have punctured the balloon of the Metropolitan regatta, so to speak, but the domestic event offers plenty of riches. A new state-of-the-art set of inflatable buoys has transformed the appearance of the course, and the quality of the entry is also excellent.

Lady Elizabeth and NUIG again renew rivalries in the men's senior eight. An entry from Commercial is unlikely to row. The crew - including Niall O'Toole - would have given the big two something to worry about. There are two NUIG entries, and a composite from Methodist/RBAI.

The men's senior sculling events should give Commercial another chance to prove their dominance, but the women's single offers the prospect of seeing Helen Walshe of UCD test her considerable talents against Caroline Ryan of Garda and Orla Duddy of Queen's University.

Given that it is approaching exam time, the entry in the junior 18 class is surprisingly strong, with 13 single scullers and six of the best eights entered.

In a huge programme - the regatta is scheduled to start at 8.45 a.m. and the final race is set for 7.10 p.m. - the standout category is the men's intermediate single scull, with 27 entries.

On Sunday, Carlow offers another chance to compete for many of the athletes.