Foster to take a break

The British team start the final round of the World Cup today in Munich without some of their biggest names.

Chief among these is Tim Foster, who will not compete again for Britain this season. Foster has been training in the single scull, but he is not a natural sculler and it was expected that he would return to the crew rowing boats before August. Instead he will take a break, hoping to launch an assault on next year's trials.

Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell will also miss the last World Cup regatta, having earned a weekend off racing. Twelve British crews go to Munich, meeting tougher opponents than they have faced to date. All three eights are racing, the men's and lightweight men's crews having missed Henley to train against each other in preparation for Germany. The troubled heavyweight men's eight have yet another crew change, Jonno Devlin replacing Tom Stallard, who is due to have an operation on his foot. The Munich eights entry is tough and a medals result would be a great achievement for this unsettled crew.

The new line-up for the women's eight adds the successful double scull and coxless pair to half the original eight.