Soggy Germans Keep Training

German men’s four back in action. Mike Finn-Kelcey/Getty Images

Rowing may be a water sport but too much spells disaster as the German national team found out. The men’s sweep training camp in Maltatal, Austria, was more than doused with water when torrential rain hit much of Europe in early August.

Thorsten Engelmann and Johannes Doberschütz, two and three seat of the Men’s eight, described winds of up to 140 km/hr hitting their camp and water rising three metres in a short space of time. The damage that ensued was extensive. The men’s coxed four was completely destroyed, the coxless four and pair were damaged and the coaching launch crushed.

However, only one day of training was lost as the crews continued to row in the rain while the coach had to watch from the shore. A replacement coxed four and coaching launch was delivered from Germany within 24 hours and the less damaged boats were repaired on site. Despite the disruption, the camp will continue until the end of August.

National team coach, Dieter Grahn, said none of the crew had ever gone through something like this. ?It brings us together even more as a team,? he said on the team website.

Maltatal has a 1900 metre lake and is used as an altitude training camp by national rowing teams from throughout Europe.