Rowing: Robert Dwan consolidated his family’s name among the legendary dynasties of London watermen yesterday. Dwan, 21, became the fourth family member in two generations to win Doggett’s Coat and Badge, finishing only 11 seconds outside the record for the race, which is held along the River Thames from London Bridge to Chelsea.

Mark Towens fought hard until the Millennium footbridge, but by then, Jack Dean and Christopher Manktelow, his rivals, were out of contention. Manktelow started in the shelter of the south shore, but river conditions were so benign that he lost any advantage. Thereafter, the procession moved inexorably as Dwan reached the finish in 23min 44sec, his stroke rate dropping from 32 to 27.

Sale lose Lobbe

Rugby union: Sale Sharks will be without Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, the Argentina lock, until the new year because of a knee injury. Lobbe was injured playing against New Zealand last month. Ireland and Scotland have qualified for the World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong next year, despite losing their semi-final games in the European Sevens finals in Majorca. They will be joined by Portugal, Italy, France, Georgia and Russia. England had already qualified. Scotland lost to Portugal, the tournament winners. Ireland were beaten by Italy.

Ban avoided

Athletics: UK Sport announced yesterday that a female Great Britain athlete has escaped a ban after a positive test for nandrolone, the banned steroid, because she claimed that there was a medical reason for the finding. Both the IAAF and UK Athletics accepted the reasoning.

Davenport’s title

Tennis: Lindsay Davenport took two hours, 55 minutes to see off Venus Williams in the Bank of the West Classic final in Stanford, California. The No 2 seed clinched a close-fought encounter 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 to lift the trophy for the third time. “To beat her in a close final feels good,” Davenport said. It was the 28-year-old’s eleventh victory over her American rival.

Nicholson retires

Hockey: Mandy Nicholson, 36, who earned 277 caps combined for England and Great Britain and played in three Olympics and three World Cups, has retired after Britain’s failure to qualify for the Athens Games. The Slough midfield player won a bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

RFL fixtures plan

Rugby league: The RFL is considering making changes to the fixtures format. At present, the sixth-placed team in the Tetley’s Super League earns a tough draw in the second half of the next season, which is considered something of a poisoned chalice.