Rowing World Cup regattaTo be the best you've got to beat the best, and Ireland's lightweight double of Sam Lynch and Gearoid Towey encountered the best in all their glory at the World Cup regatta here in Lucerne yesterday.

In the toughest event on offer here, world champions and world-record holders Italy laid waste to a classy field, setting a course record of six minutes 12.27 and leaving Ireland, with the most difficult station in lane one, in a three-way battle for a lesser medal, which they lost by 11 hundredths of a second.

Japan took a surprise silver and the United States bronze.

The Ireland team had the considerable compensation of a silver medal in the women's lightweight single sculls, where Galway woman Heather Boyle (26) came close to winning on her first appearance in a big final.

The unassuming Boyle, who has lived in the shadow of Sinead Jennings, deserved her moment of glory and took hold of her chance when it came.

She took the lead before the 1,500-metre mark and looked set to win before a storming finish by Croatia's Mirna Rajle denied her the gold.

Boyle held off Daniela Nachazelova of the Czech Republic, who took bronze, and Romania's Liliana Niga, who missed out on a medal by 12 hundredths of a second.

"I had to go to the people at the finish to find out where I had finished," said Boyle, giggling.

Lynch and Towey's race had a similarly tight finish, but the battle for the gold was over by 500 metres. Elia Luini and Leonardo Pettinari, whose world record is six minutes 10.8 seconds, took off as if they were in a different race, clearly sending out a message to their rivals.

"We thought a new (world) record was possible, but in the middle of the course we were not so impressive - the wind disturbed our stroke," Pettinari said with a straight face of a race they won by a street.

"But six minutes 12 seconds is not bad," he added after they had tamed the most famous course in the world.

Then came the rub. "I think it is possible to do six minutes nine in Milan (at the World Championships). This is an aim."

Some of this is clearly for the attention of their opponents, so what did they think of the Irish?

"I think that Lynch is a very good rower. I think in Milan a medal is possible for this double. I've been very impressed with the Irish," said Pettinari.

The Irish themselves were taking no easy options. "It is always disappointing when you don't win," said Lynch, "especially when you are used to winning."

But the aim here was surely to establish a new crew as contenders, not necessarily win a medal? The reigning world lightweight single sculling champ bristles. "You always want to win," he says.

Coach Thor Nilsen was more sanguine. "We are where we are supposed to be. We don't expect miracles."

Where the Irish are supposed to be is with three boats with a real possibility of securing automatic qualification for the Olympic Games at the World Championships next month.

This means 11th or better for the lightweight double, and Lynch and Towey are clearly in this range. The third place in the B final for the men's lightweight four puts them in ninth here, with talented athletes still challenging for places. But the third boat, the women's lightweight double, must finish ninth or better in Milan and could only finish 10th here.

Sinead Jennings and Fiola Foley's fourth in the B final came after a disappointing row. When did they realise it was not their day? "After about five strokes," said Jennings, who says her troublesome shoulder is now "about 95 per cent" right.

Foley had been struggling to overcome a viral chest infection, but both agreed the newness of the crew was the most likely cause of their flat performance.

Boyle continues to hope that she can be in the mix for the double when the crews for Milan are picked next week. She has had two frustrating seasons chasing that dream.

Last year, having given up her job to row, she teamed up with Jennings, but as the Donegal woman struggled with illness and injury, Boyle waited patiently but saw little competition.

This season Boyle and Foley were teamed together, but Boyle found it hard to get her weight down and so took on the single with a determined air.

The men's lightweight four also gave it a real lash in their B final yesterday. Fifth with 500 metres to go, Derek Holland, Richard Archibald, Niall O'Toole and Paul Griffin produced the fastest final quarter to contest the lead at the end. In almost a blanket finish Japan won, and Russia edged Ireland into third by less than half a second.

The two young men who formed Ireland's second lightweight double, Eugene Coakley and Timmy Harnedy, go back into the mix for the lightweight four after taking second in the C final.

A nightmare draw for their semi-final - they had Italy, the United States and Denmark - ruined the chances of a B final place.

Neil Casey and Herbie Griffin won their C final of the lightweight pair on Saturday and Brian Young finished second in his D final.