Brothers Gier tire of each other's company
Swiss brothers Markus and Michael Gier, favorites for Olympic gold in the lightweight double sculls, spend nearly every minute of the day in each other's company.

The reigning world champions in the lightweight double sculls, not only row together but live together in Rorschach, Switzerland.

Now, after eight years in the same boat, it is beginning to show, and the two look set to go their own ways, whatever the outcome of the Olympic final on Sunday.

"It's very difficult when there is no distance between us,'' Michael, 29, said in an interview on Friday.

"The competitiveness helps our training but there's a fine line between trying to motivate each other and being overly critical.''

The brothers made sure of their place in the final and confirmed their ranking as favorites, winning their semi-final on Friday in six minutes 25.37 seconds, almost four seconds faster than Sweden's winning time in the other semi.

"We were very nervous at the start, having had a bad start in the heats. But it went well and we felt we could just keep moving ahead of the field without using up too much energy,'' Michael said.

The brothers have timed their peak carefully according to coach Pierre Hofer.

"Earlier in the season they were five seconds behind the opposition, which is a huge amount. But you can only peak once and it had to be here,'' Hofer said.

Just as well, as differences have been mounting, too.

Tension between the two Giers, however, following defeats at early season regattas almost caused Michael to quit.

"There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to rowing with each other,'' Michael said. "The main advantage is that you can check and control exactly what each other is doing in training.

"But the teasing and criticism can get to be too much.''

The two will go their own ways without having fulfilled one ambition--to win on home ground at Lucerne international regatta.

"Some things are more important, and an Olympic gold would be compensation enough,'' Michael said.

He plans to quit rowing altogether, move out of the shared Gier household and concentrate on his job--he is a mechanic.

His younger brother Markus, a 26-year-old electrician, is looking for another rowing partner, and will need a new flatmate.

This story written by Reuters correspondents