Irish newcomer plots course to semi-finals

Guile, rather than hare-like pace, catapulted newcomer Ross O'Donovan into the top 18 lightweight scullers in the world yesterday. The Skibbereen athlete - primarily here as a spare man for the double scull - finished second in his repechage to leave the crewed boat as the only Irish entry at these world rowing championships yet to make their semi-finals. O'Donovan's progress in his first senior international competition has surprised some, certainly the Bulgarian who was passed through in the last 500 metres, but the 20-year-old's readiness to play a waiting game showed composure that belies his inexperience at this level. With just two to go through from the repechage, O'Donovan settled quickly and for the first half of the 2,000 metre race, seemed content to watch Nikolai Boiadjiev and Germany's Christian Dahlke speed off into the distance.

"I'm more of an endurance sculler than a sprinter, so I didn't expect to be ahead, but at 1,000 metres I was thinking: `these guys can't last'," O'Donovan said afterwards. Sure enough, the Bulgarian blew up 300 metres from the line and by the end, the Irish sculler had closed Dahlke down to a canvass.

Having rated under 34 strokes a minute throughout the race, O'Donovan's target of reaching this weekend's B finals may rest on cool conditions similar to yesterday's.

Meanwhile, today's second round of repechages has Ireland's hastily thrown-together lightweight double in need of a dramatic turnabout. After a bare three weeks together, Gearoid Towey and Shandon's Noel Monahan trailed home at the end of their Monday heat - a result put down to a late change of boat.

For a time, it looked as though equipment troubles had also denied the women's coxless pair a "go straight to semi-finals" card. Thirty strokes into their heat, Venessa Lawrenson's oar handle began to part company from its loom and the pair paddled over the line in last place. But disappointment turned to relief yesterday when the Belarus crew were found to have competed in a boat under the legal minimum weight and were disqualified.

A place in the final 12 came more easily for the Irish lightweight pair. Neville Maxwell and Tony O'Connor beat the French, winners of this summer's world cup series, in their first race in the pair since taking silver at last year's world's. The Irish quad, meanwhile, confirmed their medal prospects by going straight to a place in the final.