Successful start for Swiss rowers in Lucerne
Two of Switzerland's brightest rowing stars, Xeno Müller and Pia Vogel, made a convincing start in the single sculls during Sunday's opening day action at the world championships in Lucerne.
Olympic gold and silver medallist, Müller, is through to Thursday’s semi-finals after winning Sunday’s heat in a time of 6’57″47. The Swiss star is now likely to face stiff competition from two-time world champion Vaclav Chalupa, who won his own heat with a time four seconds quicker than Müller’s.
In the women’s lightweight single sculls, Vogel has already qualified for Saturday’s final after winning her heat with a time of 7’36″44. The Lucerne-born rower was making a return to single racing after finishing fifth in the double sculls at the Sydney Olympics.
Other highlights of the day’s racing on Lucerne’s Rotsee were strong performances from Britain’s Matthew Pinset and James Cracknell, who stormed through their qualifying heats in the men’s coxed and coxless pairs.
They proved that they still have what it takes without fellow teammate and five time Olympic gold medallist, Steve Redgrave, who retired after his historic victory in Sydney last year.
swissinfo with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.