Thunderstorms fail to cancel European Masters festival in Munich

After five years away, the European Masters Regatta returned to its home course at the Olympic Regatta Centre in Oberschleissheim, Munich.

Over 2,250 rowers from 41 nations and six continents competed across 633 races over the four days of the regatta, seeking to pick up the enormous gold medals on offer for the winner of each race. The fastest single scullers in each category also got the chance to race for the Masters Singles Trophy.

Ligue Grand Est Aviron of Strasbourg in France brought the most rowers, while Great Britain’s Monmouth Rowing Club entered the most events (70).

Unfortunately for the organisers and competitors, the weather proved challenging with four thunderstorms passing over the course during Saturday’s racing. A number of races were postponed and others cancelled for participants’ safety, but the regatta programme was extended on Sunday to enable some of the disrupted events to take place.

The whole regatta took place amid a carnival atmosphere, with bands taking to the tents and a stage near the finish line. Saturday night’s party was headlined by the Munich Swing Junction big band and gave competitors a chance to socialise and try Bavarian food and drink.

Oliver Bettzieche, president of Regatta München which organises Euro Masters, said the festival atmosphere was important to the event.

“You need to create an experience. It’s not just about the sport, it’s about friends meeting friends, old competitors from former world championships and former Olympic Games, they meet again and you create an atmosphere where they can compete against each other but they can also meet and have a good time,” Bettzieche said.

Bettzieche added he was particularly pleased with the number of entries from rowers aged over 80. The oldest competitor was Walter Wagner of Germany’s Frankfurter Ruder-Club Griesheim 1906 e.V., aged 97, who raced three times and picked up a medal in the Lightweight Masters Single Sculls K-M event.

Anthony Stokes of Britain’s Broxbourne Rowing Club, aged 82, said rowing kept him fit and young.

“I rowed until the age of 30, then packed up, got married, set up a company. 25 years on, came back at 55 and haven’t stopped since,” Stokes said.

Stokes won the ‘I’ category in Masters Men’s Eights in a composite crew including Olympians Klaus Riekemann and Tom Bishop. Among the other Olympians taking to the water was Germany’s Marcel Hacker, representing Ruderclub Alt-Werder Magdeburg 1887 e.V., who showed he still has plenty of speed by winning his C-category 1x race.

Hacker’s successor in the German M1x, Oliver Zeidler, prompted a flurry of interest as the last crews came off the water at the end of the regatta when he boated for a training paddle on his home course.

The last Euro Masters to be held in Munich was in 2018. After a two-year break, the regatta went to Bled in Slovenia in 2021 and 2022, but in the wake of the renovations at Oberschleisheim for the 2022 European Championships, Bettzieche said it was time to return ‘home’.

Munich will host the 2024 edition, also on the last weekend of July.