It is a thick bond of friendship that connects Simon Bucher and Bernhard Reitshammer. It starts with everyday training together on the Linzer Gugl and extends to shaving each other’s backs before important swimming races. The two ASV Linz athletes even celebrated their greatest career success together when they surprisingly swam to bronze at the European Championships with Austria’s 4×100 meter medley relay in Rome a month ago.
In the OÖN athletes’ choice, which runs up to and including October 21, they are now competitors: Because of their strong performances, both made it into the 20 nominees. “It’s hard to say who will be in the lead in the end,” Reitshammer doesn’t want to lean out of the window with any predictions. Knowing full well that they are fishing in the same vote pool. Because, as is evident year after year, the nominees receive the most support from their own sport.
What will Grandpa Rudi do?
The constellation with Bucher and Reitshammer gives swimmer Lena Kreundl, who was also nominated, a choice: who should her fans support among the men? “One of my hardest-working voters is always my grandpa Rudi. He will divide the votes between the two,” promises the 25-year-old, who swam in two semi-finals at the European Championships this year.
After a break, the trio has returned to training for the upcoming short track season, which will culminate with the World Championships in Melbourne in December. “It was good that I only had a two-and-a-half week break this time, because if you’re gone for a month or so, the first training sessions are really terrible,” says Bucher, who is currently taking the swimming instructor course – a preliminary to becoming a trainer – in Linz completed. The 22-year-old knows the course leader all too well, who, along with Marco Wolf, is the longstanding Upper Austrian state coach. “Although I’ve been swimming for a long time, I’m learning a lot of new things,” says Bucher.
Several stable rivals
The swimmers are not the only ones who have to deal with a stable rival in this OÖN athlete choice. With the professional cyclists Felix Großschartner and Rainer Kepplinger as well as the track and field athletes Lukas Weißhaidinger and Kevin Kamenschak, two of their sports are also on the ballot paper. The same applies to the teams from the soccer, tennis and table tennis camps.
The public vote runs until October 21 this year, it can only be done online nachrichten.at/sportlerwahl and be voted on with ballot papers in the OÖN editions.
Source: Nachrichten
