Bronze for Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan at World Cup II

Ireland's reigning Olympic champions Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy had to settle for bronze in the lightweight men's double at World Cup II in Lucerne.

Italy's Gabriel Soares and Stefano Oppo (a bronze medallist in Tokyo) shot off from the start of the final, gaining a two-second lead over the rest of the field in the first quarter of the race.

O'Donovan and McCarthy held second place for the first 1000m but there was absolutely nothing between themselves and the Swiss duo from the get go.

Throughout the entire race not more than 0.3 of a second separated them, and coming to the line it was the Swiss double that came out on top by 0.18 of a second, just over a second behind the Italians.

It was also bronze for Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh in the final of the women's pair.

Ireland and the Netherlands were the quickest boats off the start line, but with a bit of a wobble in the second quarter, the Irish pair passed through the halfway mark in fourth position.

However, finding their rhythm over the next block saw them push ahead of the Greek crew and into the podium positions.

At the World Championships last September this duo finished in fourth place, but have now picked up bronze medals at successive World Cups and are definitely a crew to keep an eye on in Paris later this summer.

Alison Bergin (Fermoy RC) and Zoe Hyde (Tralee RC) just missed out on the podium, finishing in fourth place in the women's double as the USA, Australia and Norway took home the medals.

It was fifth place in the lightweight women's double for Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey. This was the opening event for this crew this season, having last raced together at the World Championships.

It was John Kearney (UCC RC) and Ross Corrigan's (Portora BC) first