Two gold and one silver

That was the result of the Kassel University Rowing Team (KURT) at the DHM in ergometer rowing on April 10. This year's event was held completely virtually for the first time.

Even the preparations for this year's races were very different to what we were used to in previous years. The renewed lockdown meant that all in-person training had to be suspended from the beginning of November. However, the rowing team from Kassel University did not let this get them down and seamlessly switched to online training for the second time. It may not be possible to row at home without an ergometer, but that is no excuse not to train. Under the guidance of Alexander Sander, the athletes steeled themselves during interval training via Zoom using their own body weight and many an everyday object as a training weight.

For a long time, there was uncertainty as to whether it would even be possible for the Kassel team to take part in the Ergo Championships. Everyone was all the more relieved when special permission was granted four weeks before the competition to use the ergometers from the UNIfit outdoors in front of the boathouse in small groups. After the pandemic year without erg training, the muscles now had to quickly get used to the strain again and rowing technique and race tactics were also worked on under high pressure.

Another challenge in the run-up to the race was the technical infrastructure. In order to take part in the race, the ergometers had to be connected to laptops via USB cable, which were then connected to the internet via the university network for reasons of reliability and latency. Some tech-savvy team members excelled at this and were also in active contact with the IT Service Center (ITS).

The competition day itself began early in the morning with SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid tests. Once everyone present had tested negative, the real work began: as rain was forecast, almost all the boats had to be carried out of the boat hall and parked on the grass to create enough space for ergometers, including the prescribed minimum distances.

All in all, the team pulled together for the entire organization: from transporting the ergometers, procuring the quick tests, procuring and testing the technical equipment (cables, PCs, etc.), making several phone calls to the ITS and preparing the boat hall. A big thank you also goes to the General University Sports Department, without whom the training and participation in the championship would not have been possible.

But now finally to the competition: The 1st Kassel boat in the mixed four competed with Paul Schütz, Saeed Hadjizadeh, Julia Hädrich and Samira Boddin in the same constellation as last year. In 2021, they again dominated the 500m race - which this time was not held as a relay over 2000m on an Ergo for hygiene reasons - over the entire distance and defended their title. The 2nd Kassel boat with Timo Baierl, Stephanie Thomas and the two rowing newcomers Philipp Hahn and Melanie Gräfe finished in 5th place.

Simon Nowak then secured a respectable seventh place in the men's lightweight single over 1000m, cheered on by the entire team.

This was followed by an extremely exciting race in the men's four, also over 1000m. Halfway through the race, the Kassel boat with Paul Schütz, Jonas Bosold, Felix Mühlhausen and Simon Nowak was still in bronze place, but then the JU Bremen team ran out of steam, allowing the Kassel team to overtake them. Nevertheless, they were still more than a boat length behind WG Münster 250 meters before the finish. They then set off on a brilliant final sprint and won in a heart-stopping final by the blink of an eye.

The last race with participation from Kassel was the mixed eight in the 350m sprint. This year, Paul Schütz, Saeed Hadjizadeh, Julia Hädrich, Stephanie Thomas, Felix Mühlhausen, Jonas Bosold, Melanie Gräfe and Samira Boddin competed for the University of Kassel and made up one place compared to last year by taking silver this time. Graphics of the races can be found at time-team.nl/en/info/results.

Our summary: the effort was worth it and we are already looking forward to the next competitions.