Rowing: Australian pair end Cracknell and Pinsent's unbeaten run

The unbeaten record of James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent in a pair together came to an untimely end yesterday when Australia's Drew Ginn and James Tomkins beat them in a heat of the second round of the World Cup here. A serious contest is due tomorrow when the two crews meet again in the final, assuming that neither runs into any trouble in today's semi-finals.

The Australians, reunited this year after winning the world title in 1999 before splitting up in 2000 when Ginn suffered a back injury, went into their first international race with open minds, and undermined the British pair. "I'm old and he had a crooked back," Tomkins said. "If we knock 'em off, we knock 'em off."

Ginn added: "Sometimes a pair goes well, sometimes it doesn't, and you don't know why. We went out to do our own thing. It was surprising that no one was getting away from us. We had a nice rhythm, and found ourselves level at halfway."

They were rowing beautifully, and did not have to raise their game to move through Cracknell and Pinsent. In Pinsent's words: "We were leading at 500, and we did what we wanted to do in the first thousand metres. Then the Australians came through us really quickly between 1,000 and 1,250, and that put us on the back foot. We made mistakes in that part of the race."

Whereas the British pair are in their fourth international regatta of the season, the Australians have only their domestic season behind them. In terms of experience, however, the two crews are closer. Pinsent, 31, has three Olympic golds and Cracknell, 30, one, plus a pile of world titles between them. Tomkins, 36, has Olympic golds with the foursome of 1992 and 1996, and Ginn, 27, was also in the 1996 boat. Tomkins won his first world title in the Australian eight in 1986 and has five other world titles. Ginn has two world titles.

The seeds of defeat in Cracknell and Pinsent's 26th race together in a pair may have been sown before Henley, where they were already anxious about the Australians. South Africa's Ramon Di Clemente and Donovan Cech gave the performance of their lives in the Goblets final when they ran in only half a length behind the British pair. While thrilling the crowds at Henley, their minds were trying to focus on Lucerne's Rotsee.

Yesterday they were rating 35 strokes to the minute to the Australians' 28 in the closing stages, but Pinsent decided against a power push that has been breathtaking on previous occasions. "We decided not to throw in a sprint," he said. "The Australians seized their chance really well. What we've got to do is put things right in the semi and hopefully that will set us up for a re-match on Sunday.

"At the end of the day it's a heat, not a final. I'd prefer it was different, but we've got two more races to do. We're obviously disappointed, but you can't go through life being happy all the time. We've had disappointments before and we know how to respond."

Cracknell said: "It wasn't an exceptional row. A new crew has come out and beaten us, which makes it hard to take." Whatever the result tomorrow, a central plank of Pinsent's approach to world domination – to frighten off opponents by always being in front – has been damaged, if not shattered.