Preview – Interview with Mario Woldt – Sports Director at the German Rowing Federation

By Howard Aiken

Life is tough at elite level in any sport, but it is particularly tough at the top of German rowing.  In May 2012 at the World Rowing Cup in Lucerne, the German Women’s Quad (Julia Richter, Carina Baer, Tina Manker and Stephanie Schiller) set a new World Best Time of 6:09.38 in their heat. At the London Olympics just a couple of months later the German Women’s Quad won silver, but Manker and Schiller had been replaced by Britta Oppelt and Annekatrin Thiele. The idea that you shouldn’t change a winning team is not widely held at the top of German rowing and according to Mario Woldt, Sports Director at the German Rowing Federation, that isn’t going to change. “Every rower in the national squad knows he or she has to compete for their position in any boat. We won’t even begin deciding on our Olympic crews until we see the results from the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne in 2015.”  The German rowing squad has traditionally relied on an established and impressively executed strategy of strength in depth.  Whether at Senior, Under-23 or Junior level, the German squad has for decades had a wealth of competitive talent available to it in all the Olympic rowing events. “Obviously our chances will be higher in some events than in others, depending on how other countries perform, but like the US and GB teams we will be competing in all 14 Olympic boat classes.”

The full article appeared in issue 3 of Row360 Magazine http://www.row-360.com/ and can be seen here: Interview with Mario Woldt, Sports Director at the German Rowing Federation by Howard Aiken/