Friends Reunited
10/09/2011 - 14:11:00
In 1976, Helmut Krause and Hans-Ulrich Schmied both represented their country at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, yet it was two different sides of Germany they rowed for. Helmut rowed for West Germany, and Hans, for East Germany. So tense was the political situation at the time that the two men could not even speak to each other.
Yet here in Poznan at the 2011 World Rowing Masters Regatta, the two men are rowing together for Berliner Rowing Club in both an eight and a double, reunited, speaking, and friends at last.
World Rowing: At your very best, you were rowing against each other in the Olympics. How does it feel now to be racing together?
Helmut Krause: I think there is a real sense in rowing that you make friends you meet again and again throughout your life. Officially, we couldn’t be seen to talk when we were in the national teams as it was so heavily guarded, so we really enjoy rowing together now. After we finished rowing in our national teams, we both stopped rowing for a long time. About 15 years ago I started rowing and we met again at Berlin Rowing Club.
Hans-Ulrich Schmied: One of the most impressive regattas for me and one of my greatest memories came 25 years after the Montreal Olympics, in 2001, where we rowed again on the same course. But this time, we went down that course together, in the same boat. This was special. Friendship between East and West Germany was always present, the rowers were always friends. It was a great moment when the Berlin Wall fell.
HK: We used to row on a lake positioned half in East Germany and half in West Germany. You couldn’t cross a buoy line, and if you did, the guard boats were always there. Racing in the East for the first time was very special.
WR: What is the highlight of your rowing careers?
HS:For any sportsman, the Olympics is the highest point. In 1968, 1972, and 1976, for me the atmosphere and competition is the best you can have as a sportsman. The feeling is very different at the Olympics.
WR: What are the main differences between rowing now and rowing when you were at the Olympics ?
HK: Rowing is fun for us now. We have the same amount of fun drinking beer after and meeting friends as we do winning. Being in the national team, we are forced to win, here we choose to win.
HS: Winning is good, but not the only outcome we want. We have full-time jobs, so we can only row a maximum three or four times a week.
WR: What do you think of the German eight now?
HK: Buschbacher, their coach, does a great job at motivation, teaching technique, and putting the rowers together. No one is safe for a place in the eight. They always compete against each other. There is a lot of pressure and a lot of motivation. It’s very impressive to do more than 30 races without losing one.
WR: What inspires you to keep rowing?
HK: If you’ve done sports so intensely, you just cannot stop. After some years not doing much, you feel you have to take the time to do it again. After rowing in the national team you have to concentrate on your job, but this cannot ruin your health. So we started rowing again. I spent some years in Stuttgart not rowing, and when I came back to Berlin, to the rowing club, it felt like coming back in to a family.
HS: My whole life, I have had a relationship with sport. I’m an architect for sports buildings and worked on the 2000 bid for the Olympic Games. My whole life is to do with sport. When you have such concentration on your career, the time for sport is small. But sometimes, you must do it for your health. Not only your physical health, but also your mental health. Rowing allows me to visit friends from London, Norway, or Moscow. This is a great event for us all to meet up.
WR: How much training do you do at Berliner Club ?
HK: We train on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, mainly on the water. In the winter, we will also do running and skiing, or work in the rowing tank, which is slightly more interesting than the ergometer.
HS: We also go on training camp to Italy, normally around February. My girlfriend also rows, she was World Champion in 1974, so we sometimes row together out there.
WR: There is a huge German presence at this regatta and in masters rowing as a whole. How do you feel about this?
HK: Besides Great Britain, Germany is one country with a great rowing tradition. In Germany, people are much more connected to rowing clubs, it’s much more of a social thing. Boats are all owned by the club, there isn’t much private ownership, so it’s a social affair to be in the rowing club and to do other things than rowing too. This community doesn’t come from universities like in Great Britain and the States, but from the clubs.
HS: Berliner Rowing Club has 500 members. We have a great boat house. There are so many lakes and rivers and good rowing there.
WR: What do you think of Poznan compared to other regatta courses?
HS: In 1965, I raced the GDR champion in the single at this course. It was my first international race and I won by half a second. Weather conditions were similar to this, but the area around the lake was not so comfortable. This is a great event and the set-up is very good.
HK: Everyone is very kind and very helpful. It’s a great regatta course. The opening ceremony was brilliant. We would like to thank the Polish Organising Committee and FISA for such a good regatta. As far as I can see, everyone is very happy.
HS : I think it is one of the best we have taken part in.
Will you ever stop rowing?
HS: (Points skywards) Only he can say when I’ll stop. Everyone here looks very healthy, it is a great sport.
Live streaming is provided on the Poznan Organising Committee website here.
Please find the regatta programme here.
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