Joining the German - British foothold in men's eight

For the final of the 2015 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France it is a clean slate. Germany and Great Britain will line up in the centre lanes having won their heats. Joining them from the repechage will be Russia, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

Russia has proved boat speed with a bronze medal from the European Rowing Championships. Italy has raced in the B-final at the last two World Rowing Championships, so a 2015 A-final spot is a real boost to the boat. The Netherlands raced in the A-final at both the European Rowing Championships and World Rowing Cup III in July. They are yet to get into the medals, but their finishing sprint always keeps other boats on their toes. New Zealand’s crew are the 2013 and 2014 Under-23 World Champions and at World Rowing Cup III they made it to the senior medals podium. Conspicuous in their absence is the United States.

Great Britain finished third at the 2012 London Olympics. For them it was a huge disappointment. They came back stronger the following year and won at the 2013 World Rowing Championships in Chungju. It was Great Britain’s first ever World Championship title in the men’s eight. They then successfully defended their title in 2014.

This British success pushed the Germans into the silver medal spot. Since 2013 Germany has had a couple of wins against Great Britain, including at this year’s European Rowing Championships. Finals have been close, but it appears that the British have retained the upper hand.

Anton Braun is one of the newer members of the German eight. He came into the boat in 2013 and at 203cm is the tallest on the crew. Braun says the German focus is entirely on gold and therefore beating the British. “It’s all about winning,” says Braun. “So either we win or we lose.” At this regatta Olympic qualification, therefore, is not the focus.

“We mainly focus on Great Britain, but we can’t underestimate the other boats especially the Dutch who had a good performance in the heats. But we (Great Britain and Germany) are the only two crews on all of the medals podium.”

Braun says the German eight’s strength is their flexibility during a race, but he’s not giving away any secrets on how they will race in the final. “I don’t hear that much (from coxswain Martin Sauer) during the race,” says Braun who is too focused on rowing hard. But Braun does remember at this year’s European Championships when their crew got in front of the British boat, Sauer started laughing. “That was very motivating.”

“We try to focus on ourselves in the first half of the race, then after the half way point Martin focuses on where the other boats are.”

After these World Rowing Championships, the German crew will have a break before getting together to race a head race at the Canal Cup in three week’s time. This will be against the United States, the Netherlands and Great Britain.

The men’s eight will race today as the last race of the 2015 World Rowing Championships beginning at 14:45 CET. The top five boats will qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, so the race is also about not finishing last. The race will be live streamed on www.worldrowing.com

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