“A shock” for the DSV
Sailing head coach disembarks shortly before the Olympics
December 5th, 2023, 6:33 p.m
Germany’s top sailors are starting the new year without their head coach. After seven years of working with the German Sailing Team, the Brit Marcus Lynch is moving to the USA a few months before the Olympics. The change doesn’t just surprise the association.
DSV head coach Marcus Lynch is surprisingly moving to the US Sailing sailing association just a few months before the 2024 Olympics. The Brit will take over the position of competitive sports director with a view to the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. The German Sailing Team of the German Sailing Association (DSV) is starting its final preparations for the 2024 competitions in Marseille without Lynch.
As the American Sailing Association announced, the Briton will lead the US Olympic sailing team as the new “High Performance Director” into the home stretch towards Marseille after the turn of the year. Lynch had previously terminated his contract with DSV. “We enjoyed working with him,” said DSV sports director Nadine Stegenwalner. The separation will now be handled “professionally”.
Lynch, who is officially still the “Olympic Performance Manager” at the DSV, had individually looked after Olympic bronze medalist Paul Kohlhoff and runner Alica Stuhlemmer for seven years. The Nacra 17 duo from the Kiel Yacht Club is also considered a medal candidate at the upcoming Summer Games. Together they won bronze in Tokyo in 2021, and there were a total of three medals for the German sailing team in Japan in 2021.
Now Lynch’s departure surprised not only the association, but also the athletes. “The news from Marcus came as a shock to us on November 30th,” said Kohlhoff: “We had an almost family relationship. This separation was unthinkable for us.”