ROWING:Now it's all about Olympic qualification. Ireland's fragile hopes of being in with a chance of medalling at these World Championships were blown away in the cold breeze here yesterday when the men's lightweight four could only manage sixth place in their semi-final.
Britain, Italy and fast-finishing China led the field home and took the A final places, with Australia just missing out in fourth, and Irish crew of Cathal Moynihan, Eugene Coakley, Richard Archibald and Paul Griffin failing to pip Egypt in the race for fifth.
Ireland will face Australia and Egypt, along with Poland, the Netherlands and the USA in tomorrow's B final (9.20am Irish time).
The times of the crews in yesterday's semis gave little indication of much difference between the teams for what will be a race about last place - whoever fills this spot will not make the top 11 and thus will not book a place for their boat in Beijing.
The men's heavyweight four have exactly the same task in their B final today (9am). Their form in the past two seasons suggests they are up to the job. They won the B final to finish seventh in last year's World Championships, and their World Cup record this year reads seventh, fifth and 10th.
Four of today's opponents are big players: Germany, Australia, the United States and the Czech Republic. Belarus, however, are not, and they clocked a slow time in the semis. Alan Martin's men say they are going out to win: all the more reason why they are a good bet to land a place in the top five, which would have them celebrating tonight.
The brass band struck up It's a Long Way to Tipperary immediately after yesterday's lightweight four race, perhaps to hail the two Irishmen in the British boat, Richard Chamberlain from Coleraine and James Lindsay-Fynn, who is from Co Meath but is based in London.
The band's version of When Irish Eyes are Smiling rang out earlier for a big man in green. Seán Jacob put in a remarkable push over the final 200 metres to pass Austria's Ralph Kreibich to win the C final of the men's single scull, to loud applause and cheering from the Irish crowd. Kreibich was unable to deal with Jacob's finishing speed and the Irishman finishes 13th overall.
Orlagh Duddy finished a fine debut season with a good win in her C final. The 28-year-old powered ahead of the field in the closing stages. A season in which she took a bronze medal at the World Cup regatta in Amsterdam but failed to hit the heights at the final World Cup in Lucerne and this regatta has left Duddy thirsting for more time at this level. "I feel I'm just a ball of potential at the moment," she said.
Ireland's other crew in a C final yesterday, the lightweight women's double, finished fourth, 16th overall. Niamh Ní Cheilleachair and Sinéad Jennings held third with 500 metres to go but could not keep up the momentum.
Spain won, from Hungary, who mounted a late surge, and Norway. Ní Cheilleachair said they had gone out to win as always, but things did not go to plan at this regatta.
"Today we thought we could wrap it off with a good race. It just didn't happen. Our strong point has always been our pace through the middle of the race. Last year that was getting us in contention with the top crews. But this year - and especially at this regatta - we've really struggled to find our pace in the middle," the Offalywoman explained.
Where to now? No more than any of the Irish crews, she is undecided.
"There's going to have to be a time of reflection on everyone's part - ourselves (and) Harald (coach Jahrling)," she said. "The whole package as such is going to have to be looked at. If next year is still a dream we're going to have to go out and give it everything."
Corkman John Holland, who coaches the Japanese lightweight four, saw his crew end their campaign on a good note by winning the D final yesterday morning. It had been an up-and-down week for this crew, which end up 19th overall.
The thrill of almost qualifying for the A/B semi-finals with their good fourth behind Ireland in Wednesday's quarter-final was followed by a very disappointing fourth place in Thursday's C/D semi.
