Irish confident they can reach the final

Being justifiably confident of making a World Championship final is a rarity for Irish teams - but at about 10.27 Irish time today (the semi-final starts at 10.20) the Irish lightweight four men's team should have progressed safely through to the final here in Cologne.

The four are setting fast times in training over this beautiful championship course, and coach John Holland feels that the crew of Tony O'Connor, Neville Maxwell, Brendan Dolan and Derek Holland should, barring unforeseen disasters, move into the final.

Three boats qualify from each of the two semi-finals and the Irish, in lane three in the second semi-final, see Australia (in lane two) as their most potent test, with Spain also likely to go through. A much-hyped British crew, in lane five, have not matched the form of the Irish, who made it through to the semi-final with an emphatic win in their heat. The first semi-final contains the all-conquering Danes, the reigning World and Olympic champions, who are still seen as the most likely gold medallists come Sunday's final.

The Irish have felt at ease in the changeable winds which made the course choppy and disrupted the rhythm of many of the crews during the week. But yesterday the winds began to die down and the warm sun made for a pleasant day. And Irish fortunes waned as the sun waxed.

Lightweight single sculler Sam Lynch fingered the cause of his own failure to qualify for the A final, blaming a woeful start. "I had a Dane and an Australian on the inside and gave them a length in 30 strokes - and you don't get it back." The Dane and the Australian are the two men who may well take gold and silver in the A final, Karsten Nielsen and Haimish Karrash ("the name's German, I have no Scottish connection"). The surprise of this discipline was the failure of American Jamie Koven (who hit a buoy), and German Michael Baenninger to make it to the A final.

Lynch's odyssey may have come to an end, but the 22-year old Limerickman has had quite a year. In today's B final he may prove himself among the top 10 in the world in an event which he only took up seriously this year as a rehabilitation from a bout of glandular fever which ruined his chance of success in last year's World Championships.

Ruth Doyle can also look on this year's championships as a step forward. The lightweight sculler finished a distant last in yesterday's semi-final, but even reaching this stage was a step up for the London-based athlete.

Ireland's other competitor yesterday, heavyweight sculler Albert Maher, qualified for the C final (which determines places 13 to 18) by finishing third in his C semi-final.