The Irish men's lightweight four (LM4-)of Gearoid Towey, Eugene Coakley, Richard Archibald and Paul Griffin will have to take the repechage route in order to qualify for the semi-finals at the Rowing World Championships after they were unexpectedly defeated by the Chinese four in this morning's heat.
Both lightweight doubles will also contest Wednesday's repechages to try and advance to the semi-finals.
In the four's heat the British crew took a marginal early lead but by the 500 metre mark all five crews were level. It stayed that way until the Chinese four made their first move at 750 metres, and in the third quarter they pushed on again and drew clear water between themselves and the rest of the field. The Irish foursome upped their rate but had left it too late to challenge and finished in second, three and a half seconds down on the winners.
The lightweight women's double (LW2x) of Sinéad Jennings and Niamh NiCheilleachair fought it out with reigning world silver medalists the USA for the one automatic semi-final spot on offer in their heat.
Despite a strong challenge the Irish crew never drew level with the American duo which led from start to finish and held on by half a length at the finish. Jennings and NiCheilleachair will be confident of finishing inside the top two in their repechage to take one of the semi-final spots.
The lightweight men's double (LM2x) of Richard Coakley and Tim Harnedy will also have to row in the repechages after they finished sixth in their heat. The Skibbereen twosome will have to improve from today if there are to be in with a chance of semi-final qualification on Wednesday.
The three Irish heavyweight boats are back in action tomorrow morning in the repechages.
Garda's Caroline Ryan (W1x) is first out at 10.30am in the heavyweight women's single scull. The determined sculler has already impressed many in this her debut season but she will be hoping to crown her season by qualifying for the semi-finals.
Sean Jacob (W1x) drew the short straw having to contend with this year's World Cup champion; Coleraine man Alan Campbell in his repechage, as well as the Swiss and Finish scullers. The top two finishers will advance to Wednesday's semi-finals.
The men's heavyweight four (M4-) of Cormac Folan, Sean O'Neill, Sean Casey and Alan Martin will have France and the Czech Republic to contend with in their repechage at 12.06pm; the Irish quartet are aiming to be one of the top three that will advance to the semi-finals.
*The repechages are the second chance for the crews who do not automatically qualify through the heats to advance to the semi-finals.
