German efficiency: the rise of rowing at Bremen University

The Bremen University rowing team has risen from relative obscurity to the top of university rowing in Germany. Soeren Dannhouer has been instrumental to this rise in fortunes since first attending the school  decade ago. As an athlete, administrator and coach, Dannhauer has overseen the transformation of his team and set a trajectory for continued success.

That success culminated at the 2014 Deutsche Hochschulmeisterschaft (DHM), the German Students Championships, where the small Bremen squad of 19 men and women captured the overall team points award, beating out teams twice their size.

“It was a small but very efficient team,” says Dannhauer. “It was not really the plan to earn so many team points. We only realised after the entries that some of the rowers had to race eight or nine times to fill all the events. Because of that we’ll make entries this year a bit lower.”

The Bremen rowers have always valued efficiency and this has been key to their success, says Dannhauer. “The team was founded by only a few rowers, which set a focus on structured development.”

Rowing was among the recreational activities that began with the school’s founding in 1971. It wasn’t until more recently, however, that the team began to take on a more competitive mindset.

“Sport was mostly seen as a society-building task,” says Dannhauer. “Competition in sports was not really liked or promoted. The aspect of working together was most valued.”

Beginning in the 1990s, competitiveness has gradually developed, but a strong sense of setting aside individual interests has continued and was grabbed by Dannhauer in the mid-2000s. It has also required some ingenuity and a capable hand at bringing together the various elements to sustain a rowing programme.

“Bremen does not have a big rowing centre or full-time professional coaches,” Dannhaurer points out. “Instead, we created a tight network of local rowing clubs, the university’s sport administration and various university offices. Between them, they provide high-performance equipment and financial backing for the team.”

[PHOTO src=”119147″ size=”mediumLandscape” align=”right”]

Dannhouer’s efforts began to pay off immediately as he leveraged performances by Bremen University and Germany at the national and international levels to build the team’s profile and develop and grow the sport. From 2004 to 2013 Dannhauer medaled 18 times at the National Championships and won two golds and one silver at the European University Championships (EUC). He also raced for Germany at the 2006 World University Rowing Championships.

In 2010, the excitement of this growing team motivated Lisa and Melanie Baues to join the university rowers when they began their masters studies at Bremen. The Baues twins had won silver medals in the double at the 2006 World Rowing Junior Championships and decided to add more training and racing to their busy academic and work schedules as full-time engineers.

Their involvement further enhanced the team and established a higher level of competitiveness on the women’s side. Since 2011, the sisters have captured four medals at the European University Championships and contributed to 11 more at the German Students Championships.

University rowing at Bremen and all across Germany has been steadily growing in size and competitive spirit over the last decade. This is in large part due to the introduction of the EUC in 2005, which has provided something more for athletes and teams to aspire to.

Nomination to race at the EUC is based on the previous years’ performance at the DHM. “The nomination is for the university,” says Dannhauer, “not for the rowers.” This means that each university has to decide how to select which rowers will race in their EUC crews, which has added again to greater competitiveness within teams as selection criteria are established and benchmarks set.

The DHM has therefore taken on a special significance. Besides being the most important university event within Germany, it is the also the only event where rowers can race for their universities rather than their home clubs.

“Once you start with a local rowing club,” says Dannhauer, “you are obligated to race for that club through the year and at the club’s national championships.” There are five different rowing clubs in Bremen and members of the university team will race several times through the year for their local club as well as form composite crews to prepare for the DHM.

Over the years, Dannaouer has found additional opportunities for the rowers to race for their university at international competitions. “We have built up a kind of tradition,” says Dannhauer, “every year to look for an interesting international event and take part.” The team has sent crews to major regattas in Poland, the Netherlands, and Great Britain, gaining valuable experience.

The rise of rowing at Bremen University is certainly remarkable and is part of something much bigger happening right across Germany in University rowing.