Rowing: Britons cruise into final

The British men's team at Lucerne Regatta is in disarray, writes Hugh Matheson, with the gigantic exceptions of Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent, who in their semi-final of the coxless pairs yesterday rowed what looked like a steady, controlled race and still beat the course record by two seconds. But behind them there is a vacuum. The eight was strengthened by Greg Searle after his coxless four was withdrawn. Today they will meet a club crew from Nottinghamshire County in the B final after both boats finished fourth in their semi-finals. A win for Notts County, who have twice beaten the time set by the national eight here, would complete the demolition of a squad full of strong, talented athletes but without any personalities capable of dominating crews and making them believe in themselves. Peter Haining, the world champion from Loch Lomond, took control of his lightweight single sculls semi-final and qualified easily.