Germany Eight leaves European competition behind - Third consecutive European Championship victory
Gold won and revenge achieved: The Germany Mens Eight has impressively defeated world champions Great Britain at the European Championships in Poznan, Poland, and celebrated their third consecutive European Championship victory.
Only two hundredths of a second separated the long-standing rivals at the halfway point of the race. Then the German flagship gradually pulled ahead, securing a narrow boat-length lead. "We stuck to our plan relentlessly," said Richard Schmidt. Coxswain Martin Sauer was also glad that the team's tactics paid off. "First, the British made a sprint, and we reacted well to that, and then we went full throttle," said Sauer. At the finish line, his team was two seconds ahead of the British and one more second ahead of the Russian boat.
There was a certain sense of satisfaction as the nine men sang the German national anthem during the award ceremony and visibly enjoyed the golden moment. After all, the first major international competition was an important benchmark. "We want to take confidence and motivation from this race for the next weeks and months," said the new stroke, Hannes Ocik. The team still needs to work hard towards the season's highlight, the World Championships in Aiguebelette, France (August 30th to September 6th): "Today's race was not yet perfect. In the last two years, we also became European champions but then fell short at the World Championships. We want to change that this year."
The men's four finished in sixth place - small margin.
The four without coxswain finished in sixth place on Lake Malta. Felix Wimberger, Maximilian Planer, Alexander Egler, and Johannes Weißenfeld missed out on the targeted medal but were not dissatisfied considering the narrow margin to the other boats. "Three seconds behind silver and two and a half seconds behind bronze is not much. We have extracted the best from what was possible, and we cannot blame ourselves," said Maximilian Planer. Great Britain successfully defended their title from last year, followed by Greece (silver), Belarus (bronze), Spain, and the Netherlands.
Due to the absence of Maximilian Korge before the European Championships, the crew lacked shared training kilometers with substitute Alexander Egler. "Alexander has contributed greatly," praised Planer the substitute. And Johannes Weißenfeld, for whom it was his first participation in an A-level European Championship, looked confidently ahead: "Perhaps we will draw even more motivation for the rest of the season from the sixth place." After all, the World Championships in Aiguebelette (August 30th to September 6th) are the big goal.
The men's pair with Kristof Wilke and Toni Seifert could no longer participate in the B final on Sunday morning. Kristof Wilke, who had already complained of cold symptoms and discomfort in the past few days, could not be used anymore. "He came to breakfast coughing and almost without a voice. That's why we decided not to use him," said coach Uwe Bender.
