Siobhan McCrohan and the lightweight men’s quadruple scull grabbed A Final spots this morning at the World Cup regatta in Lucerne.

McCrohan (23) raced into the final of the lightweight single scull, taking second place to Alexandra Tsiavou of Greece in the semi-final, where three boats go through. McCrohan and Erika Bello of Italy disputed second for much of the race. In the final 500 metres, as Bello and Eri Wakai of Japan made their charges, McCrohan held on to take a clear second ahead of the Italian.

The repechage of the lightweight quadruple scull was a mad dash as four crews from six tried to make it through to the A Final. Denmark moved into pole position early, but Ireland, Brazil and two German crews were all in a fight for the three other places. The Irish crew of Niall Kenny, Michael Maher, Mark O’Donovan and Justin Ryan did well to push through to third at the end, with the two German crews taking the other qualification places.

“You make a mistake in a race like that and it’s all over,” said Ireland performance director Martin McElroy. “They did a really good job.”

 He added: "Siobhan did what she needed to do. Two A Finals is a a good start."

Irish crews took part in four competitive C Finals. The men’s open and lightweight pairs both finished third, placing them 15th overall. Sanita Puspure in the women’s single finished fourth (16th) and the lightweight women’s double sixth (18th). Cathal Moynihan took fourth in this D Final of the lightweight single scull (22nd).

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Day Two (Irish interest)

Men,

Pair – C Final (Places 13-18): 1 Cuba 6:39.17, 2 Czech Republic 6:39.86, 3 Ireland (C Folan, S Jacob) 6:44.52, 4 France Two 6:48.80, 5 Australia 6:56.86, 6 Egypt One 6:59.75.

Lightweight Pair (Places 13-18): 1 Japan Two 6:50.55, 2 Japan One 6:50.90, 3 Ireland (P Hanily, A English) 6:51.18, 4 Brazil 7:06.94, 5 Indonesia 7:12.72.

Lightweight Quadruple Scull – Repechage (First Four to A Final): 1 Denmark 6:08.60, 2 Germany Two 6:09.43, 3 Ireland (N Kenny, M Maher, M O’Donovan, J Ryan) 6:09.99, 4 Germany One 6:10.63; 5 Brazil 6:11.63, 6 Argentina 6:12.14.

Lightweight Single Scull – D Final (Places 19 to 24): 1 Bulgaria 7:15.81, 2 Japan One 7:19.21, 3 Venezuela One 7:19.66, 4 Ireland (C Moynihan) 7:20.83, 5 Belgium One 7:21.82, 6 Turkey One 7:28.18.

Women

Single Scull – C Final (Places 13 to 18):  1 Germany  Two 7:48.52, 2 Estonia 7:51.57, 3 China Two 7:51.92, 4 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:53.15, 5 Finland 8:01.18, 6 Chile 8:02.95.

Lightweight Double Scull – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Italy 7:12.29, 2 Germany Two 7:14.58, 3 Sweden 7:16.48, 4 Switzerland Two 7:17.26, 5 Russia 7:18.21, 6 Ireland (C Lambe, S Dolan) 7:18.39.

Lightweight Single Scull – Semi-Final (First Three to A Final): 1 Greece (A Tsiavou) 7:54.34, 2 Ireland (S McCrohan) 7:55.71, 3 Italy (E Bello) 7:56.21; 4 Japan Two 7:56.29, 5 Sweden One 7:59.27, 6 Netherlands (M-A Frenken) 8:17.52.

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Siobhan McCrohan came third in her quarter-final of the lightweight single scull at the World Cup in Lucerne, securing a place in the semi-finals. The Galway woman led early on, but Erika Bello of Italy and Fabiana Beltrame of Brazil passed her in the second half of the race.

The lightweight men’s pair of Peter Hanily and Anthony English, an under-23 crew, came very close to landing a place in the A/B semi-finals. Even in the early stages of this repechage Canada and Italy were in charge of the first two qualification places. Ireland led a battle for third until the closing stages, when they were pipped by Hong Kong.

Cathal Moynihan finished last in his quarter-final of the lightweight men’s single scull and the men’s pair of Cormac Folan and Sean Jacob were fifth in their repechage. Both crews missed out on A/B semi-Finals.

Sarah Dolan and Claire Lambe saw Poland and China claim the two semi-final places in the repechages of the lightweight double scull. The Irish were a close-up fourth behind Germany in third.

World Cup, Lucerne (Irish interest)

Men

Pair – Heat Four (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechages): 1 Greece (G Tziallas, J Christou) 6:28.17, 2 Serbia One (M Marjanovic, N Stojic) 6:34.28; 3 Netherlands 6:37.88, 4 Ireland (C Folan, S Jacob) 6:46.06, 5 Germany Two 6:52.75. Repechage (Two to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 South Africa 6:35.82, 2 Australia 6:35.93; 5 Ireland (Folan, Jacob) 6:40.64

Lightweight Pair – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechages): 1 Britain (A Freeman-Pask, C Boddy) 6:36.53, 2 Germany (D Wisgott, R Gerhardt) 6:39.61; 3 China 6:43.26, 4 Ireland (P Hanily, A English) 6:51.30, 5 Hong Kong 6:58.93, 6 Indonesia 7:12.49. Repechage Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Canada 6:41.86, 2 Italy 6:45.05, 3 Hong Kong 6:46.90; 4 Ireland (Hanily, English) 6:47.80, 5 Japan Two 6:48.51, 6 Brazil 7:01.24.

Lightweight Quadruple Scull – Heat Two (First Directly to A Final; rest to repechage): 1 Italy (F Sancassani, F Rigon, F Gabriele, S Basalini) 5:36.36; 2 Ireland (N Kenny, M Maher, M O’Donovan, J Ryan) 5:57.15, 3 Germany One 6:02.98, 4 Brazil 6:04.55.

Lightweight Single Scull – Heat Six (First Four Directly to Quarter-Finals): 1 New Zealand (D Grant) 7:10.97, 2 Hong Kong (Sau Wah So) 7:12.63, 3 Ireland (C Moynihan) 7:12.76, 4 Venezuela (J Guipe Jimenez) 7:15. 13; 5 Finland 7:15.51. Quarter-Final Four (Three to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Hungary 7:04.68, 2 Slovakia 7:07.03, 3 Denmark 7:07.25; 6 Ireland (Moynihan) 7:21.67.

Women

Single Scull – Heat Four (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Final): 1 Czech Republic (M Knapkova) 7:47.39, 2 United States (G Stone) 7:53.50; 3 Ireland (S Puspure) 8:00.59, 4 Argentina 8:06.44, 5 China One 8:15.82.

Lightweight Double Scull – Heat One (First Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Britain (H Goodsell, S Hosking) 7:08.40; 2 Netherlands 7:11.34, 3 Italy 7:14.14, 4 Ireland (C Lambe, S Dolan) 7:21.49, 5 Switzerland 7:23.84, 6 Cuba 7:26.44. Repechage Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Poland 7:12.13, 2 China 7:13.91; 3 Germany Two 7:18.09, 4 Ireland 7:18.66

Lightweight Single Scull – Heat Three (First Three Directly to Quarter-Finals): 1 Ireland (S McCrohan) 7:56.18, 2 Japan One (A Fukumoto) 7:58.86, 3 Switzerland (E Waser) 8:02.36; 4 Zambia 8:06.15, 5 Hong Kong 8:13.50. Quarter-Final Two (Three to Semi-Finals): 1 Italy (E Bello) 7:48.29, 2 Brazil (F Beltrame) 7:50.58, 3 Ireland (McCrohan) 7:50.58; 4 Denmark Three 8:02.13, 5 Denmark Four 8:02.94, 6 France 8:04.38.

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Ireland had an encouraging start to the final World Cup regatta at Lucerne this morning with a convincing win for Siobhan McCrohan in her heat of the lightweight single scull. Cathal Moynihan also qualified for the quarter finals of the men’s lightweight single, finishing third in his heat.

The lightweight quadruple put up a tremendous fight in their heat. A win would have taken then straight through to the final and Niall Kenny, Michael Maher, Mark O’Donovan and Justin Ryan pushed reigning world champions Italy (with three of that crew competing) to the line before taking second. Peter Hanily and Anthony English finished fourth in their heat of the lightweight pair, two places outside qualification.

The men’s pair of Cormac Folan (27 today) and Sean Jacob were also fourth in their heat,  two places away from a direct semi-final place.

Claire Lambe and Sarah Dolan also finished fourth in their heat of the lightweight women’s double scull.

Sanita Puspure finished third in the heat of the women’s single scull. Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic and Genevra Stone of the United States took the two automatic qualification places.

In the final race of the day involving the Irish team, Sanita Puspure finished fifth in a repechage won by Debbie Flood of Britain.

World Cup, Lucerne (Irish interest)

Men

Pair – Heat Four (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechages): 1 Greece Two (G Tziallas, I Christou) 6:28.17, 2 Serbia One (M Marjanovic, N Stojic) 6:28.17; 3 Netherlands 6:37.88, 4 Ireland (C Folan, S Jacob) 6:46.06, 5 Germany Two 6:52.75

Lightweight Pair – Heat One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechages): 1 Britain (A Freeman-Pask, C Boddy) 6:36.53, 2 Germany (D Wisgott, R Gerhardt) 6:39.61; 3 China 6:43.26, 4 Ireland (P Hanily, A English) 6:51.30, 5 Hong Kong 6:58.93, 6 Indonesia 7:12.49.

Lightweight Quadruple Scull – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to repechage): 1 Italy (F Sancassani, F Rigon, F Gabriele, S Basalini) 5:36.36; 2 Ireland (N Kenny, M Maher, M O’Donovan, J Ryan) 5:57.15, 3 Germany One 6:02.98, 4 Brazil 6:04.55.

Lightweight Single Scull – Heat Six (First Four to Quarter-Finals): 1 New Zealand (D Grant) 7:10.97, 2 Hong Kong (Sau Wah So) 7:12.63, 3 Ireland (C Moynihan) 7:12.76, 4 Venezuela (J Guipe Jimenez) 7:15. 13; 5 Finland 7:15.51.

Women

Single Scull – Heat Four (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Final): 1 Czech Republic (M Knapkova) 7:47.39, 2 United States (G Stone) 7:53.50; 3 Ireland (S Puspure) 8:00.59, 4 Argentina 8:06.44, 5 China One 8:15.82. Repechage Two (Two to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Britain 7:51.85, 2 New Zealand Two 7:53.78; 5 Ireland (Puspure) 8:00.36.

Lightweight Double Scull – Heat One (First to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Britain (H Goodsell, S Hosking) 7:08.40; 2 Netherlands 7:11.34, 3 Italy 7:14.14, 4 Ireland (C Lambe, S Dolan) 7:21.49, 5 Switzerland 7:23.84, 6 Cuba 7:26.44

Lightweight Single Scull – Heat Three (First Three to Quarter-Final): 1 Ireland (S McCrohan) 7:56.18, 2 Japan One (A Fukumoto) 7:58.86, 3 Switzerland (E Waser) 8:02.36; 4 Zambia 8:06.15, 5 Hong Kong 8:13.50.

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UCD won the final of the Prince Albert for student coxed fours at Henley Royal Regatta yesterday. The crew of Dave Neale, Colm Pierce, Finbar Manning, stroke Tom Doyle and cox Jenny Lynch overcame the challenge of University of Bristol with little difficulty. The Dublin crews had done their hard work  in the earlier stages, beating Oxford Brookes, Goldie and Harvard on the way to the final.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Five (Irish interest)

 Prince Albert (Fours, coxed; Student)  - Final: UCD bt University of Bristol 2l, 7:41

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Queen’s University’s challenge in the Temple Cup for Student Eights ended with a narrow defeat to ASR Nereus of the Netherlands. Neither crew could establish a clear lead for most of a remarkably close race, but Nereus found enough as the crews passed the enclosures to win. The verdict was half a length. 

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Four (Irish interest):

Temple Cup (Eights, Student): Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands bt Queen’s University A ½ l, 6:32

Prince Albert (Fours, coxed; Student): UCD bt Harvard University 2/3 l, 7:09

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UCD had a terrific win in the semi-final of the Prince Albert for college coxed fours at Henley Royal Regatta. This was a race all down the long course, with the Irish establishing a slight lead early on and holding on to it despite repeated pushes by Harvard. UCD won by two-thirds of a length.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Four (Irish interest):

 Prince Albert (Fours, coxed; Student): UCD bt Harvard University 2/3 l, 7:09

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The evening events brought no joy for Irish-based crews at Henley Royal Regatta. Carlow gave as good as they got for much of the way in their clash with West End in the Thames Cup for club eights, but the  New Zealand crew saw off a push at around half way and powered on to a convicing win. In two of the final races of the day, Muckross suffered steering problems at the start and lost to London Rowing Club’s A crew in the Wyfold for club fours, and Cork could not match The Tideway Scullers’ School in the Britannia for club coxed fours.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Three (Irish interest)

Princess Grace Cup (Women’s Quadruple Scull; Open): Gloucester RC and Leander bt Belfast RC and Carrick-on-Shannon RC 2¼ l, 7:36

Ladies’ Plate (Eights; intermediate): Harvard University bt NUIG 2½ l, 6:28; Oxford Brookes University/Oxford University bt Molesey BC 1¾ l, 6:40

Thames Cup (Eights; club): 1829 Boat Club bt Galway RC 3 ¼ l, 6:48; West End Rowing Club, New Zealand bt Carlow RC 3¾  l, 6:46

Wyfold Cup (Fours; club): Star Club bt Commercial 2l, 7:14; London RC A bt Muckross 2¼ l, 7:06

Britannia Cup (Fours, coxed; club): Tideway Scullers’ School bt Cork BC 1 ¾ l, 7:23

Temple Cup (Eights; student): Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands bt Queen’s B 2½ l, 6:42; Queen’s A bt Brock University, Canada ¾ l, 6:29

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Queen’s A caught and beat Brock University of Canada in the quarter-final of the Temple Cup for student eights. The Belfast crew were behind at the Barrier and Fawley but moved coming up to the one-mile mark and won by three-quarters of a length in six minutes 29 seconds.

NUIG had no answer to the power of Harvard in the Ladies’ Plate for intermediate eights, with the American crew clocking 6:28 and winning by two and a half lengths. In the Princess Grace, an open event for women’s quadruple sculls, the Belfast-City of Derry-Carrick-on-Shannon crew came up against the British national quad and were never in contention.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Three (Irish interest)

Princess Grace Cup (Women’s Quadruple Scull, Open): Gloucester RC and Leander bt Belfast RC and Carrick-on-Shannon RC 2¼ l, 7:36

Ladies’ Plate (Eights, intermediate): Harvard University bt NUIG 2½ l, 6:28

Thames Cup (Eights, club): 1829 Boat Club bt Galway RC 3 ¼ l, 6:48

Wyfold Cup (Fours, club): Star Club bt Commercial 2l, 7:14

Temple Cup (Eights, student): Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands bt Queen’s B 2½ l, 6:42; Queen’s A bt Brock University, Canada  ¾ l, 6:29

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The first three Irish crews in action at Henley this morning all fell to the superior fire power of seeded crews. The old boys' club of Oxford and Cambridge, 1829 Boat Club, beat Galway Rowing Club in the Thames Cup for club eights; Queen's B could not deal with the slicker ASR Nereus in the Temple Cup for student eights; Star Club beat Commercial after a fine battle in the Wyfold Cup for club fours.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Three (Irish interest)

Thames Cup (Eights, club): 1829 Boat Club bt Galway RC 3 ¼ l, 6:48

Wyfold Cup (Fours, club): Star Club bt Commercial 2l, 7:14

Temple Cup (Eights, student): Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands bt Queen’s B 2½ l, 6:42

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An Argentinian composite crew which had terrible steering problems early on passed and beat the Galway Rowing Club/Muckross crew in the first round of the Visitors' Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. The crew from Club San Fernando and Club de Regatas la Plata trailed at the Barrier, but stuck to their task and beat the Irish by two lengths.

 Carlow got the Irish back on track with a good one-length win over Star Club in the Thames Cup. Lightweight oarsman Peter Chambers mixed it with a man four stone heavier in the Diamond Sculls and lost by only a length and a half in the Diamond Sculls to British heavyweight oarsman Brendan Crean. 

 The day ended superbly for UCD, who were led by Goldie in the Prince Albert for student coxed fours but went on to win by three-quarters of a length. 

Henley Royal Regatta (Irish Interest)

Diamond Sculls (Single Scull, Open): B Crean (Agecroft RC) bt P Chambers (Oxford Brookes University) 1 ½ l, 8:37

Visitors’ Cup (Fours; Intermediate): Club San Fernando and Club de Regatas la Plata, Argentina bt Galway RC and Muckross 2l, 7:36

Thames Cup (Eights, club): Carlow bt Star Club 1l, 7:15

Prince Albert (Fours, coxed; Student): UCD bt Goldie BC ¾ l, 7:19

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