“A farce” – dispute in German rowing superimposed World Cup
The Germany eight was only fourth at the European Championship. Now the World Cup is coming up
Which: pa/SvenSimon/Frank Hoermann/SVEN SIMON
The World Rowing Championships are being held in the Czech Republic. Some of the German athletes and the top of the association are extremely divided. The quarrels are formulated more and more openly. Like now from eighth batsman Johannesen.
Bn the German rowers, the tensions between the athletes and the leadership of the association will continue during the World Cup. According to eighth batsman Torben Johannesen, a convened expert council has so far done little to solve the problem.
“That alone is a farce because there are people in there who are the focus of criticism. They sort of check themselves,” the 27-year-old from Hamburg told the “Ruhr Nachrichten” one day before the start of the World Cup for the DRV parade boat in the title fights in Racice (Czech Republic).
The association had drawn consequences from the poor performance at the local European Championships in Munich and the growing resentment of athletes. An expert council consisting of former successful athletes, a sports scientist and officials is to analyze the results of the past few years and work out solutions by the extraordinary rowing day at the end of October.
Furthermore, the creation of a new holistic concept for the promotion of top-class sport and the elaboration of core values for optimizing the cooperation between athletes, coaches and officials are planned.
“You lose confidence”
Johannesen called for a more consistent approach: “You lose confidence in the association because a lot is announced but nothing is implemented. Performance is always demanded without giving us the tools to implement it. We athletes need a plan to get back to the international top.”
There Hamburger Torben Johannesen
Source: pa/Geisler-Fotopress/Matthias Wehnert/Geisler-Fotopre
Before Johannesen, one-man drivers Oliver Zeidler and his sister Marie-Sophie Zeidler had expressed their displeasure in clear words and referred to the DRV fleet’s decreasing competitiveness for years.
According to the national coach Brigitte Bielig, the DRV fleet now wants to “revise” Munich’s weak performance at the European Championships in August. In addition to the two ones, only the eight is considered a contender for a podium place in the Czech Republic. At the European Championship, Johannesen’s crew only finished fourth.
