O'Donovan and McCarthy win heat to cruise into A final

Olympic gold medal duo Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy cruised into the A final of the men's lightweight double sculls, while the Women's Four also advanced to their final with a dominant display at the European Championships in Munich.

A total of eight Irish entrants competed in the morning's programme in Munich on Thursday, three advancing to their finals, another boat making the semis, while the remaining four are destined for Friday's repechage.

O'Donovan and McCarthy, gold medalists in Tokyo last summer, won Heat 1 in a time of 7:02.52, pushing the Swiss into second place.

The Women's Four of Eimear Lambe, Tara Hanlon, Aifric Keogh and Natalie Long also eased into their final, winning Heat 2 in 7:10.24 ahead of Denmark in second place.

The Women's Double Sculls duo of Zoe Hyde and Sanite Puspure progressed to the semi-finals with a second-place finish in their heat behind Netherlands.

Ireland's Para Mixed Double Sculls team are also through to their final, Katie O'Brien and Steven McGowan finishing fourth in the Preliminary Race.

The Women's Pair crew of Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty - Olympic bronze medalists alongside Lambe and Keogh in the Women's Four last summer - are bound for the repechage after placing third in their heat behind Romania and Croatia.

The Women's Lightweight Double Sculls pair of Margaret Cremen and Lydia Heaphy are set for the repechage after taking second spot in their heat, trailing the leading British crew by 11 seconds.

Aoife Casey, going in the Lightweight Women's Single Sculls, will race in Friday's repechage following a fourth-place finish in her heat.

The Women's Eight - consisting of Murtagh, Hegarty, Lambe, Hanlon, Keogh, Long, Puspure, Hyde and Leah O'Regan (cox) - are also in Friday's