Olympic A-Final Preview: Germany’s unbeaten men’s eight

The second heat of the men’s eight saw tough competition with Germany facing World Best Time holders and reigning Olympic Champions Canada as well as Great Britain, who have finished second to the Germans at the last two World Rowing Championships. Great Britain has also been hot on the heels of Germany at the first two stages of the 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup.

Germany dominated the entire first heat at the 2012 Olympic Rowing Regatta. They took the lead from the start and held on to it.
 

Despite their three-year winning streak, the results of the Final cannot be predicted as the Olympic Games are known for at times unexpected results. Florian Mennigen, sitting in two seat of the German boat makes this clear: “The men’s eight implies a huge range of very good teams. Therefore there is no reason for any team to become too confident.”

Mennigen knows what he is talking about. He was in the German men’s eight at the 2008 Olympic Games where the crew obtained less than wished-for results. The entire team had been replaced just a few weeks prior to the Olympics in Beijing, where the boat finished last. “We were all pretty optimistic and convinced that we could score well but unfortunately at the end it did not work out at all.” says Florian.

The Beijing experience did not discourage the athlete, and instead inspired him to press on: “I never wanted to stop, especially not after Beijing. It was rather a motivation to make it better the next time.”

The current crew forms a solid unit, not only at the sporting level but also at the personal level say Mennigen and Head Coach Hartmut Buschbacher.  Perhaps that is part of their success formula.

The continuous change in combinations also plays a role, says Florian:  “We usually train in different combinations as often as possible so that we can get used to and adapt to each other. This way it does not feel like big rearrangements.”

Medal prediction is a challenge, but the Germans are closer to winning their first Olympic gold medal in the men's eight ever as a re-unified country. What is certain is that the line-up in the men’s eight is prestigious, with the Netherlands, Great Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia also lining up, and racing will be nerve-wracking.