CITY oarsman Cormac Folan is on course for a place in the final of the heavyweight fours at the Olympic Games after his crew produced a storming finish to finish third in their heat at Beijing on Saturday morning.

Folan (25) was in bullish form when he spoke to The Sentinel from his base in the Olympic Village last night and is determined on registering a strong finish in tomorrow’s semi-final, when the Irish will be up against three of the strongest crews in world rowing – New Zealand, Australia, and reigning champions Great Britain.

It’s a tough draw for the Irish, who will also take on the French and the USA tomorrow (9.50 or 10 a.m. Irish time), but Folan said that they were determined to do their best against the best in the world in order to reach the final.

Saturday’s heat was the first competitive race in which the new crew of Folan, Sean Casey, Sean O’Neill, and Jonno Devlin rowed together as a unit and they survived a sluggish start to see off the challenge of the...