The setting was worthy last weekend, German championships in Bochum, a warm handshake from the officials, even warmer words of thanks and a beautiful picture in which Germany’s best synchronized swimming duo of the past few years can be seen doing a joint routine. A few tears were shed, and later the German Swimming Association (DSV) sent out a message with the appropriately pathetic headline: “Departure as champions: Marlene Bojer and Michelle Zimmer are ending their careers.”
So that was it for Bojer, the 30-year-old from Munich, and Zimmer, her duet partner from Berlin who is four years younger than her. After a career that took her to World and European Championships and almost to the Olympic Games, but which didn’t always go in a straight line. Bojer spent almost her entire life in the water, in a sport that for a long time was laughed at rather than encouraged. And although she and Zimmer have formed a perspective duo for the Olympics in the last few years, she has never benefited from sports funding from the Bundeswehr, customs or police, which supports other athletes. “We never had the feeling that the association was really pushing this, they always said we should try crowdfunding or donations,” says Bojer.
Zimmer lives and studies in Berlin, Bojer in Munich, both have roots there, moving was unrealistic. Ultimately, the duet decided to bury their Olympic plans at the end of 2022 because of the excessive financial and organizational effort. It was a tough decision because competing at the Summer Games is not on her CV. The only German representatives missed the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo when they qualified in Barcelona – by the blink of an eye of 0.1866 points. It would have been the first German Olympic participation in synchronized swimming since 1992. “That’s still going around in my head and it hurts extremely,” says Bojer.
Don’t misunderstand her, the Munich native is actually at peace with herself and her career; She also knows that she has a lot to thank the DSV for. She has won countless DM titles, taken part in several world and European championships, and won silver with the team at the European Championships last summer – probably her greatest success. The sport has given her a lot, the travel, the togetherness, the early support from trainers like Doris Ramadan, Bettina Wrase and Barbara Liegl.
Bojer started at a World Cup for the first time in 2015, when a temporary pool was installed in the Kazan football stadium, “and the stands were full,” she remembers, still a little surprised. In 2017 she started under almost fairytale conditions at the World Cup in Budapest in an outdoor pool by the lake with a castle in the background. “I have achieved almost everything in my sport. The only thing that is still missing for me is taking part in the Olympics, and unfortunately that is not realistic for me given the current circumstances in my environment,” Bojer is quoted as saying in the DSV announcement. DSV Vice President Kai Morgenroth said after the honor: “You couldn’t give a better farewell to a national squad athlete.” But with even more professional conditions – even in Munich, where the pool and training situation has been difficult for years – and a little more financial support, it could perhaps have been an even greater career.
Open detailed view
Marlene Bojer and Michelle Zimmer during the free duet during the 2022 World Cup in Budapest.
(Photo: Francois-Xavier Marit/AFP)
Just a small example: Before Bojer and a few other Isarnixen traveled to the World Championships in Fukuoka last summer, they started an appeal on their homepage: “Help, we are Marlene Bojer, Maria Denisov and Solène Guisard. We will be synchronized swimmers for the Germany national team during represent the World Cup from July 10th to July 23rd. We are currently expecting a personal contribution of €1,500 per person. Since we cannot raise the entire sum privately, we need your support. Every help counts.”
In the end, they didn’t have to pay their own contribution because the officials still had money left over. But the mere fact that in synchronized swimming, in this case, only those who open their own private box can apparently go to a World Championships makes one look deeply.
Marlene Bojer always knew that she was practicing a sport that required more training than almost any other – and at the same time didn’t make any money. She has therefore made provisions for her second career. Her studies are finished and she handed in her master’s thesis three weeks ago. She wants to work in marketing. But first a vacation with her boyfriend in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia is on the agenda. And then, in December, the Isarnixen’s Christmas musical: “Beauty and the Beast”. Bojer plays in it: the evil witch.
