07 Dec 2011
German Champions Prove Themselves on 400 Metre Sprints
Three out of the four rowers from the 2001 World Championship German men’s quad proved this weekend they are not only the best on a 2000 metre course, but can also take the field on a 400 metre sprint course.
Stephan Volkert, Christian Schreiber and Andreas Hajek represented their respective clubs in the German Sprint Championships on the river Main in Schweinfurt, Germany this weekend and all came away with gold medals.
Schreiber and Hajek both rowed for the Hallescher Sportsverein “Böllberg” in the men’s quad, and took their race by .13 of a second in front of the Osnabrücker Ruderverein and the Rudergesellschaft Speyer.
Fellow 2001 World Champion Volkert took the men’s single sculls sprint, winning gold for his club RTHC Bayer Leverkusen Ruderabteiliung.
The women’s events also boasted some big names – World Championships bronze medallists Anja and Dana Pyritz secured two 1st places for the Saarbrücker rowing club. The two sisters had an easy win in the coxless pair, in front of just one other crew.
They then went on to dominate the coxless four, together with Kerstin Junge and Kathrin Henker, taking the lead by more than two seconds over German Junior Champions from the Giessener Rudergesellschaft.
Marita Scholtz and Claudia Blasberg both raced in the women’s single sculls for Dresden Ruder Club and Dresden Ruderverein respectively.
Scholtz ended up second behind Christiane Will from the Potsdamer Ruder-Gesellschaft after a very tight and exciting race – Will winning by .06 of a second!
Blasberg, who won gold at this year’s Worlds Championships in the Lightweight women’s double sculls was eliminated in the semifinal.
The sprint championships were held for the fifth year running. Although this event sees the participation of some international level rowers, it is aimed mainly at rowers who race at club level.
The venue also hosted the last leg of the 12 regatta series of the Deutscher Ruderpokal on Saturday. This series awards a cup per boat class to clubs who earn the most points in their 6 best races over the year. An overall “Best Club” award is given to the club with the most points over the series. This year’s overall Cup winner is the Ruderverein Nürnberg, followed by last years winner the Bremen rowing club.