Ireland's lightweight four have an added incentive

Rowing World Cup regattaThe final World Cup regatta of the season, which starts today in Lucerne, Switzerland, gives Ireland's lightweight men's four the chance to take on their rivals for the status of the best crew in the world in this Olympic discipline.

This is the final competition before the World Championships in Eton next month, but it will be the first time the Irish have encountered reigning world champions France, who had to drop out of the last World Cup at Poznan in Poland because of suspected food poisoning. In their absence Ireland had an impressive win, relegating Germany, who pushed them into second at the first World Cup in Munich, to fourth.

There is a strong sense that the Ireland crew of Gearoid Towey, Eugene Coakley, Richard Archibald and Paul Griffin are improving with each race. But Griffin was quick to point out after the Poznan win that they had not yet faced Canada, who come to Lucerne from a system now headed up by Bent Jensen, the coach of the most successful lightweight four of the last decade, Denmark.

There is an added incentive for the Ireland crew this weekend: the chance to make a bit of history. No Irish crew have been crowned overall World Cup champions, and this crew are in pole position this year. They stand on 14 points, with Germany second on 12 and Australia on 11. A win yields eight points, second six, third five and so on down to one point for a win in the B Final (seventh place).

Technically, Britain, on seven points, could head the Irish this weekend, but this is unlikely. The two crews meet in today's heat (11.35am Irish time), with the Netherlands the other crew to watch. Three crews go through straight to the semi-finals.

Ireland have five other crews competing today, all in Olympic events. The hottest hopefuls for a medal come Sunday are the lightweight women's double of Sinead Jennings and Niamh Ní Cheilleachair, the bronze medallists from Poznan. Very much on the credit side of the balance when weighing up the hopes of the Donegal/Offaly combination is the absence of Chinese crews, as both gold and silver went to China in Poznan. But Germany, the US and newcomers Australia, with former world champion Amber Halliday on board, will see this as their chance too. And Canada's Mara Jones and Tracey Cameron, who line up beside Ireland in today's heat (10.55am), were the bow pair in the lightweight quadruple scull which won gold at the World Championships last year.

Should Caroline Ryan glance to her right in this morning's heat of the single scull she will look upon one of the current superstars of the sport. Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus is the reigning world champion and was a silver medallist in Athens.

Ryan, a soft-spoken garda from Kildare, is in her first season as an international but she doesn't do starstruck. It would be an extraordinary achievement, but her fierce determination would be justly rewarded with an A final place on Sunday.

The men's four and double are in new combinations, but the four of Cormac Folan, Seán O'Neill, Seán Casey and stroke Alan Martin can test their mettle against the Netherlands in their heat (10.50am), while the double of Seán Jacob and Con Collis (11.30am) face the might of France's Adrien Hardy and Jean Baptiste Macquet, who set a world record at Poznan.

The men's lightweight double have another Poznan winner in their heat (11.30am): Danes Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist.

WORLD CUP REGATTA (at Lucerne, Switzerland) - Day One (Heats) - Irish interest (times Irish; crews in lane order): 8am - Women's Senior Single Scull: Switzerland, Latvia, Germany, Belarus, Ireland (C Ryan), Slovenia. 10am - Men's Double Sculls: Sweden, Estonia, France, Ireland (S Jacob, C Collis), Belgium. 10.50am - Men's Four: Germany One, France Three, Netherlands, Ireland (C Folan, S O'Neill, S Casey, A Martin), Portugal. 10.55am - Lightweight Women's Double Sculls: Egypt, Ireland (S Jennings, N Ni Cheilleachair), Canada, Switzerland, Germany Two. 11.30am - Lightweight Men's Double Sculls: Canada, Tunisia, Denmark, Greece, Ireland (R Coakley, T Harnedy). 11.35am - Lightweight Men's Four: Poland, Britain, Ireland (G Towey, E Coakley, R Archibald, P Griffin), Netherlands, South Africa.