Towey makes the cut

ROWING: Early this year Gearóid Towey clung to a life raft in the middle of the Atlantic unsure whether he would live or die; yesterday he swept through the choppy waters of mid Cork in Ireland's top boat, the Olympic-class lightweight four that will represent the country this year.

Towey's selection was one of the big stories at the excellently run national trials at Inniscarra Lake over the weekend. The Fermoy man (29) effectively takes the place of the injured Tim Harnedy in a rejig of the boat that won silver at the World Championships last year.

Harnedy (23), unable to trial but hoping to recover from a recent operation relatively quickly, has been picked to team up with Richard Coakley for the final World Cup regatta in Lucerne in July. Newcomer David Heffernan and Diarmaid Mac Colgain will form a double for the first World Cup in Munich in a month's time, as will Jonny Devitt and Eoghan Garvey.

National coach Harald Jahrling sprung a big surprise in the heavyweight men's class, where Seán O'Neill (25) and Seán Casey (28) were in contention for a place in the senior four - only to be told on Saturday afternoon they would represent Ireland in the pair.

UCD's Con Collis (29) slots into Casey's seat in the four.

Other big winners were Garda's Caroline Ryan, who will represent Ireland in the single scull in two World Cups, and Seán Jacob, who broke seven minutes to win the single scull final from Towey, nailing down his place in the four. Sinead Jennings, again imperious in the single, will form a lightweight double scull with Niamh Ní Cheilleachair this season.

IRELAND TEAMS: Men, Four: C Folan, S Jacob, C Collis, A Martin. Pair: S Casey, S O'Neill. Lightweight Four: G Towey, E Coakley, R Archibald, P Griffin. Lightweight Doubles: T Harnedy and R Coakley (from Poznan World Cup); E Garvey and J Devitt; D Heffernan and D Mac Colgain (both crews Munich World Cup).

Under-23, Four: J Wall, D Barry, P O'Brien, P Murray (World Cups in Munich and Poznan; Under-23 World Championships). Lightweight Quadruple and Double from: G Ward, L Molloy, S Walsh, K Rabbitte, J Brinn, B Clarke.

Junior: Coxed Four (for World Championships): J McDonald, B O'Mahony, A McEvoy, P Rae; cox M Griffin. Quadruple Scull (for Coupe de la Jeunesse): S White, J Currivan, A Bolger, K Clarke.

Women, Senior Single: C Ryan (Munich and Poznan World Cups). Lightweight Double: S Jennings, N Ní Cheilleachair. Under-23: O Hayes (World Under-23 and World Cup, Poznan).