A group of guys in their fifties, some of whom work at the Olomouc Rowing Club as coaches, created the Olomouc Eight Dreams project.
“An idea is one thing. But in order to make ours happen, we needed a boat and money. The eighth one we have in the club is forty years old and devastated enough that its zenith is definitely behind it. However, the new one costs 1.7 million crowns and that is too much. That’s why we bought another old eight last year, in better condition, with the intention of reviving it and returning it to the water. Of course, with the goal of racing on it afterwards,” explained one of the rowers, Roman Vajčner.
But even this ship had to be put in better condition. And the original budget for the complete overhaul was 370,000 crowns. “As dads from families, we realize that every larger sum we put into our hobby hurts our family budgets. Nevertheless, even with gritted teeth, we decided to go for it,” he said.
Photo: Petr Marek, Novinky
Roman Vajčner (left) and Martin Vlček and their Eight Dreams
Later, while work was already underway on the restoration of the eight-row house, he got the idea to set up a collection for the purpose on the Donio platform, which would help finance the project. “We needed 100,000 crowns for the most necessary modifications to the ship. We thought we’d give the collection a try, even if we only got pennies from it. If something comes, it will reduce our costs,” he noted.
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According to him, the reality exceeded expectations. “Donors contributed 51,300 crowns as part of the collection, which ended this week,” revealed another member of the group, Martin Vlček.
Osma has already been cut into two parts as part of the overhaul so that it can be transported (long ships cannot be transported on a tow behind a car). It also got new carbon ribs. All kinds of scars that she had suffered over the years were also repaired. All that’s missing is a new spray paint and prints to make it “look”. “It’s practically ready to launch,” Vlček said.
Photo: Petr Marek, Novinky
Roman Vajčner (left) and Martin Vlček and part of their already refurbished ship.
The rowers themselves can’t wait to set sail in the new “beauty”. “Paradoxically, it’s not the weather that prevents us, but the fact that the water is still rough. When the level of the Morava river drops, we will leave. It’s getting close,” everyone looks to the bottom of the “D”.
They have ambitious goals, so even their preparation will be challenging. They mostly train individually, four times a week, in the gym, on rowing machines. “Over the summer, we want to go to the water together at least twice a week,” stated Vajčner.
Some of his teammates also won medals at the junior world championships. For example, Martin Polášek won bronze in Montreal in 1992. “I competed three years later in Poznań in a quad. Now most of us, whether we fought together or against each other, meet at eight. This is a royal discipline, it would be nice to build on past successes. We will not go to Brandenburg, Germany, where this year’s veteran world championship is held, to lose. We will have the highest ambitions there,” added Vajčner determinedly.
