Famous rower fails to secure spot in the German eight crew.
Germany's treasured rowing eight team faces a challenging situation before the Paris Olympics. The latest results aren't good enough for the big event. And now, it has a personal impact on Hannes Ocik. He was back in the boat quite recently.
In an unexpected move, just 49 days before the Olympic Games, the German eight-oar decides on a significant change to its lineup. Hannes Ocik, the stroke oarsman, is replaced by Frederik Breuer, with the latter taking his spot at the World Cup in Posen (June 14th-16th). In the closing race before the Summer Games in Paris, Mattes Schönherr will once again helm the German flagship.
As national coach Sabine Tschäge put it, "This is a tough decision. But we've always said that this is a provisional crew, and we'll reevaluate the overall situation once we know which boats have qualified for Paris."
The 32-year-old Ocik had brought the German eight-oar to Olympic silver medals in 2016 and 2021 and claimed three world titles. He rejoined the team in April. However, in the World Cup in Lucerne at the end of May, they could only manage a 5th place, trailing the top three teams by almost five seconds, while the winning British team was seven seconds ahead.
Tschäge clarified, "It's important to emphasize that Hannes was an attempt to bring more stability to the races. That didn't quite work out. With Mattes Schönherr, we managed to qualify last year, and the seating positions in the boat have also changed now." Breuer comes from the four-oar team, which missed out on the Paris ticket by a single place at the qualifying regatta in Lucerne.
At the Posen World Cup, the German eight-oar will encounter the Olympic boat from Australia, a Romanian team, and two Ukrainian national teams. The national coach hopes for a vast improvement compared to the performance in Lucerne: "We don't have much time and want to make the comeback as soon as possible."
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In light of the Olympic Games approaching in 2024 Paris, the replacement of Hannes Ocik with Frederik Breuer in the German rowing eight crew raises questions about their preparations. Hanne's impressive track record, including silver medals at the Olympic Games in 2016 and 2021, and three world titles, might be missed at the ORDNER events during the Olympics.
