Irish in the medals at Lucerne

Irish rowing had a bright, shiny day yesterday, garnering a gold medal and two bronzes at the Lucerne World Cup regatta.

The lightweight coxless pair of Neville Maxwell and Tony O'Connor took gold, while lightweight single sculler Sam Lynch and the national lightweight quadruple scull both took bronze.

"It all happened in the space of an hour," said a delighted O'Connor. "First Sam, then we came down and then the quad." The pair had won gold at the Lucerne regatta in 1994 and bronze in '95, before the World Cup was instigated. "But this was the easiest one," said O'Connor.

"It was good - like in our heat and semi-final (both of which they won easily) we got a very quick start. We were very fast over the first 1,000 metres and had seven seconds to spare at half way. We were well ahead and controlled it from there."

Lynch had to battle to gain his bronze. He fought back from fifth place in his race to take third, with gold and silver going to semi-final winners Michal Vabrousek of the Czech Republic and Denmark's Karsten Nielsen respectively.

The quad had to take second in a three-way battle with Germany and Denmark for their bronze medal. The Italians led all the way and eventually won by over three seconds. The Irish were second at half-way but were denied silver by the Germans at the end, with the Danes out of the medals.

National coach Thor Nilsen said that the team for the World Championships in St Catherine's, Canada, next month was taking shape, with the quad, Lynch and the women's double scull of Debbie Stack and Mary Hussey, who finished sixth in their B final yesterday, all pencilled in. All have met the requirement of being on course for a final place (in Lynch and the quad's case) or for an Olympic qualification spot.

But the fraught decision on whether to send a lightweight four (an Olympic boat) or the pair will be left until next weekend's National Championships in Cork. "The pair (O'Connor and Maxwell) have qualified to go too, of course, but we will have to see what happens in the Championships," Nilsen said. The final decision rests with the national executive of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union.

The qualification of a women's double is particularly good for Irish rowing. Stack and Hussey have been coached recently by the legendary Sean Drea, and Nilsen sees this as crucial. "They have made a lot of progress, and I believe they can do better. I believe they can make the B final in Canada and qualify for the Olympics. Sean has done a tremendous job with them."