One-star Zeidler is convincing
Germany’s eight starts with defeat in the European Championship
April 25, 2024, 5:24 p.m
The road to the medals is long, probably too far: at the start of the European Championships, the German eight team has to let the competition outrun them. Things are going much better for Oliver Zeidler and Alexandra Föster in the singles.
The European Championships began with disillusionment for the Germany eight team. On the first day of the title fights in Szeged (Hungary), the parade boat of the German Rowing Association (DRV) did not get past fourth place in the lane distribution race. After a decent start and a second place at the 1000 meter mark behind world champions and title favorites Great Britain, the crew around batsman Hannes Ocik was unable to fend off the attack of the Romanians and Italians in the second half of the course. “I’m pretty dissatisfied. I don’t see any reason why we’re giving up the race on the third leg,” complained trainer Sabine Tschäge.
The mixed performance gives little encouragement for the medal showdown on Saturday (3:26 p.m.). Without an increase in performance, the targeted podium place is hardly achievable. The big gap of 4.5 seconds even to third place Italy, who was beaten by the DRV team at the World Cup in Varese two weeks ago, is something to think about. Because only six boats were registered for the title fights, there was no classic preliminary heat, but rather a lane distribution race. The runways for the finale will be allocated.
Oliver Zeidler, on the other hand, mastered the start of the four-day regatta without any problems. With a start-to-finish victory, the 27-year-old from Munich moved into the singles semi-finals and underlined his claim to his third European Championship title after 2019 and 2021. He reached the finish just under three seconds ahead of Giedrius Bieliauskas from Lithuania. “I was on course for the world’s best time. The first 750 meters were very fast, but then unfortunately there was no more pushing wind,” commented Zeidler, “so I continued to drive for victory and not for time.” In 6:48.92 minutes, the gold favorite still achieved the best time of all starters.
In typical fashion, Alexandra Föster also set her sights on a skiff medal. The slow start was followed by a strong finish, which the previously leading Lithuanian Viktorija Senkute was no match for. The men’s double scull ensured Germany’s third preliminary victory. The duo Jonas Gelsen/Marc Weber impressed – like Zeidler before them – with the fastest lead time. However, four more DRV boats that have started have to go into the repechage race.