Boron back in rowing business

Boron demonstrated that she is right on national team target.

Boron won the single putting her on track for competing at the Beijing Olympics, Boron’s fifth. Already with seven World Champion titles and four Olympic gold medals to her name, Boron slipped out of the international scene after finishing an uncharacteristic second at the 2005 World Rowing Championships in the women’s quad. Boron’s single win at these trials puts her back at the front of the German sculling league, pushing Christiane Huth and Stephanie Schiller back into second and third respectively.

In the "agreed absence" of top male sculler, Marcel Hacker, Robert Sens took the gold in the men’s single. But Sens had no easy job of it needing a final 50m sprint to overhaul junior World Champion Hans Gruhne. Clemes Wenzel finished third just ahead of Rene Bertram and World Under 23 Champion Karsten Brodowski in fifth. Hacker will begin his international season at the Essen Regatta in May.

Winners of this year’s Oxford-Cambridge University Boat Race, Thorsten Engelmann and Sebastian Schulte left Great Britain to join these national team trials bringing with them Cambridge coach Duncan Holland. But despite their recent success for Cambridge, Engelmann and Schulte had to bow to the speed of their national team mates in the men’s pair race. Jochen Urban and Andreas Penkner finished first followed by under 23 newcomers Fokke Beckmann and Richard Schmidt with Philipp Naruhn and Florian Eichner in third.

In the women’s pair 2006 double world medalists (second in the eight and third in the pair at Eton) Elke Hipler and Nicole Zimmerman showed their skills winning ahead of Christina Gerking and Maren Derlien. The bronze medal spot went to Nadine Schumtzler and Lenka Wech.

Marie-Louise Draeger finished at the front of the lightweight women’s single ahead of Berit Carow. Joerg Lehnigk wion the lightweight men’s single with Manuel Brehmer in second and Jonathan Koch in third. The heavily contested lightweight men’s pair had Joel El Qualqili and Ole Rueckbrodt take the top spot followed by mathias Velt and Bjoern Steinfurth.

The national team hopefuls battled windy conditions on the course best known for the 1998 World Championships in Cologne with athletes required to race in either singles or pairs. A couple of big names were absent due to health problems including Marco Geisler and Bernd Heidicker, who both have back injuries.

The trials attracted 300 rowers and mark the start of the process for selection of crews for this year’s World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany in August.

With thanks to Oliver Palme.