ROWING:IRELAND'S LIGHTWEIGHT four grabbed an excellent second place in their heat and qualification for the semi-finals at the World Cup regatta in Munich yesterday.

Eugene Coakley, Gearóid Towey, Richard Archibald and Paul Griffin overcame a dreadful draw and a difficult start to their heat, when their boat was not properly aligned and set off at an angle.

After 500 metres they were back in fifth, three places off a qualification place and three seconds behind a sweetly moving China. But then they showed their worth. By the 1,000-metre mark they had annexed second, and they overcame the disadvantage of their wind-exposed lane to power into tomorrow's penultimate test.

"That was a superhuman effort, considering the conditions on the course," said coach John Holland. "The cross headwind disadvantaged lane one in the final stages and only a handful of crews came through from this lane . . . I'm absolutely bloody delighted."

Ireland's heavyweight four also moved directly into the semi-finals, and the heavyweight pair of Jonno Devlin and Seán Casey made an auspicious debut at this level when they finished second in their heat - showing how to use the shelter of the stand in lane six to put in a storming finish.

The one qualification place in this heat went to the experienced Danes Morten Neilsen and Thomas Larsen, who allowed others to make the running and then finished with a flourish.

Devlin and Casey almost matched them. They held fifth for much of the race but put on a big burst with 250 metres to go. At the end they were only .57 of a second behind the winners.

"I think it's a really good first race to get under our belts," Devlin said, adding that they felt they could improve. "I think we've got quite a steep learning curve ahead of us whereas the other boats are going to be going as fast as they are going to go and we (have) got a lot of improvement to come."

Devlin and Casey go in today's repechage (11.12am Irish time), where they have a tricky draw. The US, Slovenia and South Africa are among their opponents, only two going through to the top 12.

The heavyweight four of James Wall, Seán O'Neill, Cormac Folan and Alan Martin qualified directly for tomorrow's semi-final by finishing third in their heat.

With three crews going through from the four in the heat, Ireland's task was straightforward - finish ahead of the least-fancied crew, Croatia. World silver medallists Italy might have been expected to dominate, but it was the Czech Republic crew who made the running and held off a late push by Italy. Alan Martin's unit stayed in touch, and were over 10 seconds ahead of Croatia at the end.

Ireland's four other crews missed out on direct qualification for the semi-finals. In the women's double scull, Caroline Ryan and Sinéad Jennings mounted a challenge in the middle stages of their first competitive outing together, but could not land the required first or second place.

The lightweight double scull of Niamh Ní Cheilleachair and Orlagh Duddy finished fifth of five in a race won by Greece's Chrysi Biskitzi and Alexandra Tsiavou.

And Seán Jacob, only recently back from illness, finished third in his heat of the single scull.

The lightweight double of Richard Coakley and Cathal Moynihan were pushed into fifth and last in the frenetic final few-hundred metres of their heat.