Irish fourth

After winning silver and bronze medals in the first two World Cup regattas at Munich and Hazewinkel, the Irish lightweight quadruple scull had to settle for fourth place in the final in the concluding leg of the event at Lucerne yesterday.

Italy took gold and Germany silver in a race where both crews and the Irish started strongly. But the surprise packets were Mexico, who took the bronze in their first World Cup regatta this year. As Mick Desmond, the Irish quad's coach, put it: "There has been a gap between the German's and ourselves - but I didn't expect the Mexicans to fill it."

The only other Irish competitor who made an A final was Sam Lynch, who bounced back from last year's injury-plagued year to surprise most with his fine performance over the weekend in the lightweight single sculls. He finished fifth in yesterday's final, ahead of Britain's Peter Haining, and just over three and a half seconds behind Denmark's formidable Karsten Nielsen, who was third.

The Irish women's heavyweight quad were third in their B final yesterday. The men's double of Donal McGuinness and John Armstrong went out in the semi-final.

The failure of any Irish crew to gain a top-three place means that none gain automatic backing from the Irish rowing union for the World Championships in September. Much speculation will now centre on the composition of the men's quad, with Gearoid Towey, who pulled out of the Lucerne regatta on Friday through illness, a possible contender for a place.