The Great British Men's Sweep Shuffle ? Munich World Cup

The men’s four from Lucerne joins the eight for Munich. Jamie Mc Donald/Getty Images
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Great Britain’s one-oared men are undergoing a regroup and mid season cleanse as they lead into the final World Cup Regatta in Munich, Germany.

World Champion and yellow jersey holders, James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent will not line up at the start of the men’s pair. This last minute decision comes after the choice was made to focus on defending their title at the World Championships in September. They will continue to train in England.

The decision was further motivated by the knowledge that the Australian pair of Drew Ginn and James Tomkins, who broke Cracknell and Pinsent’s winning streak at the second World Cup earlier this month, will also not be racing. Ginn and Tomkins will remain in Australia until the Seville World Championships.

Great Britain now looks to the return of their World Champion men’s four. They will be in Munich hoping to pick up where they left off at the first World Cup in June. Illness meant the crew missed both Henley and the second World Cup where their number two crew of Jonno Devlin, Andrew Hodge, Ben Burch and Phil Simmons performed credibly, making the A-final. 

This number two four has been recombined into the men’s eight, who, as the 2000 Olympic Champions, have performed below expectations. Four of the men’s eight will move into the second men’s four. They include three Olympic Champions, Steve Trapmore, Luka Grubor and Kieran West, with Tom Stallard in bow seat.

?We have given the opportunity to our three champions in the eight from Sydney to race in the four at Munich and show their standard there,? says International Manager, David Tanner. ?Munich should prove a good final test for our squad in the lead up to the World Championships.?