Ireland's adaptive rowers qualify for Paralympics

Ireland's adaptive coxed four finished second in the A/B semi-final at the World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia today and guaranteed their place at the Paralympic Games in London next year

The crew of Anne-Marie McDaid, Sarah Caffrey, Shane Ryan, Kevin du Toit and cox Helen Arbuthnot finished second to Germany and is through to tomorrow's A final. In the women's lightweight double scull, Lisa Dilleen and Sanita Puspure finished sixth in the B Final and missed out on the chance to qualify for near year's Olympic Games.

With six boats having already qualified for London 2012, two more boats, placed seven and eight, were guaranteed a place from the B final. Germany started strongly and led virtually all the way while China came in second by overtaking the United States in the second 1,000 metres. High Performance coach Martin McElroy said, "This is a great result for the adaptive crew who have performed impressively throughout the week. Today's race was the fastest time they ever rowed and rightly guarantees them a Paralympic qualification. In the lightweight double scull, the girls had a good start, maintaining a decent rhythm and were in touch for the first 500 metres but could not keep contact with the head of the field"