Rowing: Hannes Ocik – second career after the eighth

As of 6:56 p.m | Reading time: 4 minutes

SHannes Ocik was the face of the Germany eight for seven years. He sat at the front of the DRV’s flagship, right in front of the helmsman. At the start, or in almost every other television setting, the 30-year-old was the first to be seen.

But not only the spectators had Ocik in view, but also all seven rowers behind him. As a batsman, he was responsible for the rhythm, used the intermediate sprints in the race and then had to bring the necessary calm back into the boat. The native of Rostock led the eight to two silver medals at the Olympics, three world titles and seven European championships.

First he thought about the end of his career

That’s enough of that. After the Olympics, Ocik got out of the eight. At first he thought about the end of his career, but then he dared a completely new challenge. Ocik switched from the largest rowing boat to the smallest, the one. He admits: “It was bumpy at first and took some getting used to. There’s a huge technical difference there. Sure, the element of water is still the same, but my rowing style is designed to push a ton of mass out of the water. That’s why my new trainer always says, the boat doesn’t weigh that much, you don’t have to pull like that.” In one, there are only 120 kilos that have to be moved.”

There was also another big change: in the stern he only had one rudder, the so-called oar, in his hands. In one there are two, the skulls. Ocik chose the best environment for the retraining. He moved from Dortmund, where the Germany eight trains, to Munich. His girlfriend, Sky presenter Nele Schenker, lives there, with whom he shares an apartment. Together with Oliver Zeidler, world champion in singles, he is now training on the 1972 Olympic regatta course in Oberschleißheim.

Ocik says: “Of course there is nothing better than training with the reigning world champion and his world champion coach. If I don’t make it here, with the intensity of the care and experience, then I probably won’t make it anywhere. Every kilometer that I row more, it gets better. It’s also partly a game of patience. But I already feel very comfortable in the boat.”

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At the beginning he was still ten seconds behind Zeidler at 500 meters, meanwhile it is only eight: “It’s small steps that come, it’s getting faster and more effective, you can tell that from the training data.” But the ex-batsman does not see himself as a serious competitor to Zeidler in singles: “I see my chances in doubles fours. But even there you have to leave the church in the village and see how things develop.” Of course, Ocik first has to qualify for the big scull boat.

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But he is confident: “In the training camp with the national team in Portugal in February, we saw that as soon as I’m in a bigger boat, my skills, which I bring with me from the eight, are more in demand and then bring plus points. Above all, taking this direct pressure with you, which you don’t really need in one, is more in demand in two or four. So my hope is to get a foothold there again this season. I’m already more of a team player than I have been in the last ten years. I also think it’s faster in terms of speed.”

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Diet, planning, strategy

The trainers would also give him hope, says Ocik: “The measuring boat technician who was there said what I’m bringing on board has been missing a bit from the German foursome in recent years.” But of course he knows also: “For that, the performance has to be right first of all.” The national team’s first test is scheduled for Saturday at the long-distance regatta in Leipzig.

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Then there are the first indications of how the change has affected. Because the training has also changed in Munich. Ocik: “Of course there are also fixed training times here, like in Dortmund, where you have to be there because we are on the water together. But everything around it is planned and organized with a relaxed hand. We also do a lot individually, a lot happens on the basis of trust.” Which in turn helps him in the family. “If my girlfriend has to work a lot at the weekend, I can plan the training so that I explicitly do more so that we have more time together. Of course that wouldn’t work in Dortmund with a big team.” And says after the first three months in Bavaria: “It definitely makes training more pleasant. It’s a great experience to see that things can be different.”