The newly 24-year-old Flamíková comes from Hodonín, after the Pardubice grammar school she moved to Prague, where she studies wood engineering. “Its usability, renewable resources and wooden buildings are being investigated. It seems to me like a beneficial field for our planet,” he explains.
Novotníková went much further after her studies, spending four years at USC in California. “It was one of my smartest decisions, it’s why I’m still rowing,” she is convinced.
Studies overseas
“Combining school with the national team in Brno was difficult, here there was an opportunity for an excellent education and a chance to combine it with sport, so I jumped at it,” recounts Novotníková, who after her return devoted herself to media studies and graduated in time a week before the championship in Račice.
Both met in the group of Tomáš Kacovský, the coach who led Mirka Knapková (after marriage Topinková) to the title of Olympic champion and world champion.
“I spent one winter with her before Lukáška was waiting and it was a pleasant experience to see how the best rower in our history works. When I saw how she approaches the stairwells or the trainer, I stopped feeling sorry for myself, because I know that this is the only way to speed up,” Flamíková smiles.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t spend more time with her. In Los Angeles at school, the girls were even four years older and it gave me a lot of experience. And here I was already one of the oldest. I wish someone like her could pass on more experience to me,” admits the 27-year-old Novotníková.
