Fifth National Title for Marcel Hacker

Hacker showed his strength during 2002 season.
© Getty Images

Current single sculls world Champion Marcel Hacker won the German national qualifications regatta on the Köln Fühlingen regatta course in Germany on 27 April for the fifth time running, the ?Marcel Hacker News? reports.

Hacker beat the strong field of national competition in 6:51.25 ahead of 1994 world champion André Willms. Former world champions Robert Sens, Christian Schreiber and 2-time Olympic gold medallist Stephan Volker also took part in the singles race.

The 25-year-old rower from the Cassel Women’s rowing club (he is the only man rowing in this club!) is the first German ever to have won five national trials in a row in the single scull.

German Rowing Federation sports director Michael Müller is happy to see the work with the German federation rewarded: ?this was a much awaited step for Marcel, and he mastered it to perfection. I am impressed with his total domination?. Müller told the Newsletter.

Hacker too was pleased with his performance: ?I tried to dominate the race right from the start. With this performance I think I showed that I want to row in the single this year.?

With this first important hurdle out of the way, Marcel is now en-route towards his long-term objective: Athens 2004.

But before that, there are still several races to be raced. On 17 ? 18 May the International Essen regatta will be the first test against international competition. After that, three World Cup events, the German Championships and the World Rowing Championships will hopefully qualify him for the 2004 Olympics.

The Marcel Hacker newsletter is currently available in German, but will also be available in English as of mid-May. To sign up, or for more information, please contact Marcel’s press officer Oliver Palme at oliver.palme@rudern1.de.