Rowing: British pair cruise to final frontier

The stage is set for a head-to- head today between the best coxless pairs in the world after Britain's James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent and Australia's Drew Ginn and James Tomkins won their respective semi-finals at the World Cup regatta here yesterday.

After the Aussies ended the Brits' unbeaten run of 25 races in Friday's heat, neither crew was giving anything away as each cruised along the green water of the Rotsee to first place yesterday. Ginn and Tomkins were led to 500 metres by the Italians but soon eased ahead and were first to halfway, with the Croatians now closest in pursuit. Here the Australians reinforced their command, and were rating 34 strokes to the minute before dropping their rating right off.

Cracknell and Pinsent came down five minutes later, also in lane four, leading all the way, faster than the Australians for the first 1,000 metres, slower in the second 1,000, rating 35 before letting off. They were six seconds slower overall, but the name of this game was one of three qualifying places and rowing for the best lane in the final.

Today the two crews will be in adjacent lanes. "We know we have to go three seconds faster to win," Cracknell says. "It's hard to raise three seconds in one day. Then again, if we beat them they'll know that they will have to go three seconds faster."

There has been much premature speculation about the consequences for the British crew of an Australian victory. Win or lose, however, they remain a formidable powerhouse at the sharp end of rowing, with Athens gold in their sights. They are Olympic champions in the coxless four and world champions in both coxed and coxless pairs. They are consistent, cool and have immense experience of responding to circumstances, an instinct which let them down only last Friday. What has changed is that their singular dominance of the event since they started in 2001 has ended.

Cracknell and Pinsent's inexperience is in losing. From 1997 to 2000 in the four, it happened only twice to them in nearly 100 races. Friday was the first time they have been beaten by a crew whom they have not bested previously.

Pinsent's analysis is: "It was a surprise to see how quickly the Aussies did move between 800 and 1500 metres, and it was disappointing that we didn't respond. We just kind of sat there and did nothing. We should have responded quickly."

More annoying is that Ginn and Tomkins, Olympic champions together in the Oarsome Foursome in 1996 and world champions in the pairs in 1999, have a track record for their superb rowing technique, and it is no secret to Cracknell and Pinsent.

Ginn has recently returned from a back injury which stopped his Olympic chances in 2000, while Tomkins is a legend from the original Oarsome Foursome who won the Olympics in 1992. "Tomkins is an extremely nice guy and he'll step into any boat you ask him to, and make it go faster," says his former coach, Brian Richardson.

Today it is likely that Cracknell and Pinsent will be first to 1,000 metres, followed by a gargantuan struggle over the next 500 metres. It will be a battle between British brute force and Aussie flowing rhythm.

"It's not them and us, it is us in our pair against them in their pair," Pinsent says. "You try and get the best out of your own boat. You're not willing yourself on to beat them up as individuals. That's not what rowing's about."

Cracknell summarises his weekend as a good experience. "As much as I've hated the last 24 hours, it's really made me remember why you do the sport," he says.