Karlsruhe students win two silver medals in Moscow

The rowers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) competed successfully at the 7th European University Rowing Championships in Moscow last week. The races were held on the 1980 Olympic regatta course "Krylatskoe". In ideal weather conditions, a total of 13 nations with over 450 athletes competed for the championship titles in 21 boat classes over the Olympic rowing distance of 2000 meters. The General German University Sports Association (adh) sent its best teams in
its best teams from 14 universities in 19 boat classes.
The two Karlsruhe boats had already qualified for the European University Championships (EUC) at the beginning of July by winning the German University Championships (DHM) in Bremen. After intensive and hard weeks of preparation with lots of joint training, the Karlsruhe students looked forward to the competitions in Moscow with excitement and impatience.
The men's pair with Heiko Gulan and Simon Schiml was delighted to have a full field. France, Poland, Lithuania, Russia and above all the Ukraine provided their best athletes, which meant that the German boat had to qualify for the final via a preliminary heat. With a commanding start-finish victory, the two athletes from Karlsruhe went straight through to the final on Wednesday.
The women's double four with Lisa Maria Bode, Ulrike Schwarz, Julia Johannsmeier and coxswain Vera Dohmen was able to compete with four opponents from Russia (two boats), Poland and Great Britain. In the course distribution race, the four women from Karlsruhe demonstrated their speed at the start and led the field with Russia 1. With second place, they secured one of the coveted middle lanes for the final and looked forward to it with confidence.
On the final day, the weather in Moscow was at its best. Sunshine, a pleasant 18°C and a light breeze made for a perfect day of racing. Heiko Gulan and Simon Schiml were the first to start in the morning. The two men showed determination and the will to win, proving their exceptional quality with a high stroke rate, which was higher than the stroke rate they had actually trained for. At the finish, they were only beaten by the strong Ukrainians, who put in a phenomenal final spurt ahead of the German boat. Silver for Karlsruhe.
After a short lunch break, the women's double four got ready to represent the colors of the KIT in a worthy manner. As in the course distribution race, the Russian boat 1 also proved to be very strong in the final race and overtook the Karlsruhe women by the halfway point. In the battle for second place, the German boat was able to fend off the attack of the Polish women from the University of Bydgoscsz with an energetic spurt and secured the runner-up title by a wide margin.
With a total of 11 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals, a very successful EUC came to an end for the 80-strong German delegation. In the history of the European University Championships, Moscow is the most distant venue from Germany and was therefore the most costly championship to date, both financially and organizationally. The two teams would like to thank their coach Ralf Thanhäuser, their main sponsor THOST Projektmanagement and the many private supporters who made this successful participation in the championship possible.

Lisa Maria Bode, Vera Dohmen