AWhen it was all over, the asterisks came. Sculler Alexandra Föster was so exhausted that she couldn’t take part in the award ceremony. She missed something: The 20-year-old athlete from Meschede would have been celebrated for her one-shot coup at the World Cup race on the Rotsee in Lucerne. “It took me a moment to get physically fit again,” the rower explained later. “I didn’t take it easy and gave it my all.” Just as it should be for a rower. The gold medal was handed in later.
In a terrific final sprint, which she only started 250 meters from the finish of the 2000 meter distance, she fought off the surprised favorites Tara Rigney from Australia and Jeannine Gmelin from Switzerland from fourth place. Her plan not to exhaust herself completely in the semifinals had worked. In this preliminary race, Föster finished second behind the Australian Rigney, but that was enough to get into the final. “I could maybe save the grains that I still need tomorrow,” she speculated on Saturday. Properly classified.
Little in the tank
Almost the entire rowing world regrouped after the Olympics in Tokyo. On the Rotsee, location determination was announced at the weekend. For the Germany eight, who had changed six positions compared to the Olympic silver crew in Tokyo, the test turned out to be mixed: The newly formed eight from England drove well ahead.
The rowers from the Dortmund performance center were also unable to crack the Australian big boat. But at least they were able to put this team under pressure for a long time before, exhausted, they made it to the finish in third place. The gap to the winners was 5.34 seconds. “In the end we didn’t have much left in the tank,” said helmsman Jonas Wiesen. “But it’s good that we made it onto the podium.
Weber surprised
All in all, things didn’t go as hoped this weekend.” Three weeks ago at the World Cup opener in Poznań, they still won the final, although the field was weaker. It turns out that the way to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is still for the young Germany eight around batsman Matthes Schönherr (with Wolf-Niclas Schröder, Torben Johannesen, Benedict Eggeling, Laurits Follert, Julian Garth, Jasper Angl and Olaf Roggensack). far, the to-do list long.
In the men’s singles, Marc Weber from Marburg finished third, but almost ten seconds behind the winner Graeme Thomas from Great Britain. The 24-year-old Weber, who started in the double sculls at the Olympic Games, was completely surprised. “I never would have thought that,” he said, “I came here completely naïve.” He struggled a little with his slow start – this is usually his strength.
“I never would have thought that,” says Marc Weber after his race.
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Image: dpa
“I have to improve my rowing in singles,” he explained, “but I’m very satisfied with today’s performance.” Weber stood in for the German number one, world champion Oliver Zeidler – he had to recover from a cold. With a view to the European Championships from August 11th to 14th in Munich-Oberschleißheim, they don’t want to take any risks, explained head coach Brigitte Bielig. For the others, the World Cup in Lucerne was also the last endurance test before the home European Championships on the 1972 Olympic course.
Seven German boats had reached the Lucerne finals in the 14 Olympic classes, the overall balance is rather sobering with three podium places. The coxless four, the smaller offshoot of the belt group in Dortmund, showed at least an upward trend. No German boat had been able to qualify for Tokyo in this category, but that should be different for 2024.
In Lucerne, the quartet with batsman Marc Kammann (Hamburg), Max John (Rostock), Malte Großmann (Hamburg) and Theis Hagemeister (Dortmund) achieved fourth place. The women’s double sculls with Frauke Hundeling (Hannover) and Pia Greiten (Osnabrück) finished fifth, as did the women’s eights with batsman Katja Fuhrmann (Dresden). The women’s quadruple, for many years the trump card of German rowers, finished sixth. “We are in a state of upheaval,” explained Brigitte Bielig, “and have a large number of U-23 rowers who need to be introduced. That’s a bit more long term.”
