Rowing: “Cry a little”: Men-achter fails in the World Cup lead

Hanging heads, views into the void and a lot of frustration: The dream of a World Cup medal has surprisingly burst early and disappointing for the traditional Germany eight of the men. In the lead, it was only enough for the flagship of the German Rowing Association – too little for moving into the A final. Part of the men’s crew can still hope for the new mixed e -chter, but at the moment the great disappointment was not a consolation.

“It was not a good race. We got under pressure and then made mistakes. Today we can cry a bit and then we have to restart,” said coach Mark Emke after the tart damper for the once so successful boat. Rower Mattes Schönherr added: “This is a huge disappointment. Today we have remained well below our level. That is the worst result of the season.”

Disappointment after an upswing

After a phase of upheaval and a disappointing fourth EM-Platz, the newly formed crew recently reported back with strong results and thus increasing the expectations for the seasonal highlight. Second place behind Olympic champion Great Britain at the World Cup in Varese and a victory in Lucerne had brought the team back to the favorite group.

However, after the preliminary off, the Olympic fourth-as last in 2022 at the World Cup in Racice in Czech-only remains the B final on Saturday (7.49 a.m. CET). “Mega hurts. We didn’t find our rhythm and no dynamics – I don’t know why,” said Sönke Kruse. He and his eighth colleagues Theis Hagemeister, Julius Christ and Paul Klapperich and helmsman Jonas Wiesen in mixed e -chter have a chance of precious metal.

Mixed-anchter celebrates the World Cup premiere

The new boat class celebrates its premiere at this World Cup, as well as the mixed two. The Rudder World Association sees the mixed e -chter in particular as an important step for the future of sport. In the international debut of this new class at the World Cup in Varese, Germany took second place behind the USA in three starters. In Lucerne, the race was one of two reported boats after the USA’s withdrawal.

“We have occupied both boats with the best rowers and expect something in both boats. First of all, it is important to come to the final and then of course you also want to go to the medal podium,” said national coach Sven Ueck before the premiere of the mixed boats of the German Press Agency. “It will be exciting for everyone: two new boat classes, two races in one day and then the combination woman/man.”

Women’s eight with a strong race to the final

At the Olympics in Los Angeles, the mixed egg is not yet Olympic, but could be included in the program in Brisbane in 2032. Preliminaries and finals of the mixed boats take place on the last World Cup day (final 8.57 a.m.), since they are only occupied with men and women who have already started in standard boat classes. In addition to the men from the eighth of Frauke Hundeling, Luise Bachmann, Tabea Schendekehl and Anna Härtl, in the German mixed boat.

For Bachmann, Schendekehl and Härtl, the Frauen-Achter is already about precious metal on Saturday (9.05 a.m. CEST). Unlike the men, the crew around the striking woman Nora Peuser showed a strong performance in the lead. In a more courageous race, the German boat only had to give up Olympic champion Great Britain and qualified for a World Cup final for the first time since 2009.