The Germany eight passed its first endurance test with the new crew on Lake Varese fairly convincingly. Around 100 days before the Olympic Games in Paris, the flagship of the German Rowing Association (DRV) in Italy asserted itself in the international field with a hard-fought third place at the first World Cup of the year. The result in the opening race on Friday offered little reason for optimism. The German crew was still busy aligning the boat when the race started and the competitors pulled away.
“We missed the start. In the figure eight, that’s fatal because you quickly lost a quarter of a length,” said national coach Sabine Tschäge: “We had to roll up the field from behind and were in an extremely unfavorable position.” The German team was able to catch up with the Austrians after the miserable start and then quickly distanced themselves from them, but the gap to the Dutch was too great.
The performances fluctuate
Things went better in the repechage race on Saturday. With second place in a boat-to-boat battle, the Germans qualified for the A final behind the Italian eight. “We wanted to beat the Italians and we also had a small lead. We were satisfied with that too early and were ultimately punished for it,” said helmsman Jonas Wiesen.
For the final, the Germans were finally hoping for improvement and, above all, the consistency they were missing. The performance of the eight crew has been fluctuating for months. The last race was not just about a good placing, but also about strengthening self-confidence in the face of strong competition.
The British and Dutch moved forward early, giving the Germans no chance to intervene in the fight for victory. The prospect of third place remained. This time the German eight team prevailed against the Italians with a lead of less than a second.
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The final was less dramatic for Oliver Zeidler. With a clear lead, the 27-year-old also demonstrated his dominance in the single sculls in Varese. The three-time world champion is considered the favorite to win the Olympic competition. He won by around three seconds ahead of the Dutchman Simon van Dorp and Davide Mumolo from Italy.
Arno Gaus came second in the lightweight category. The DRV also had reason to celebrate among the women. Alexandra Föster achieved second place in the single sculls as well as the double sculls. A little later the double sculls came third.
