Sport Briefly / Rowing: Lightweight display by heavyweights

With a strong tailwind pushing crews to world record times the British rowing team found the going rough in its first tough races of the season, at Duisburg Regatta, writes Hugh Matheson. The men's heavyweight team, now well provided for, failed to produce the returns expected by their sponsors. Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent withdrew because of an injury to Pinsent's back, which the chief coach, Jurgen Grobler, hopes is temporary. Their event was won by the German Light Blues Thorsten Strepplehoff and Peter Holtzenbein, who will miss today's final so that they can return to Cambridge for exams. The men's coxless fours offered the biggest flop. The Searle brothers, rowing with James Cracknell and Richard Manners, never settled on going which was too light and the first- choice crew was stopped when the strokeman Rupert Obholzer's seat jammed at the start and he opted not to claim a breakage.