Rowers from Steinmühle and blista kick off summer training with an expanded fleet

At the “season opener” after the Easter break, the rowers from Steinmühle had plenty to celebrate. The athletes are looking forward to the 2015 rowing season with great optimism. Winter training was very effective, as was already evident in several indoor competitions. Things are going great for Lucas Schäfer, Marburg’s 2014 Athlete of the Year; the club is in good shape; and now they’ve even christened a new four-man boat to kick off the season.

Fortunately, the work of the Steinmühlen rowers is also appreciated and recognized by others. Jürgen Hertlein, chairman of the sports association; Marian Zachow, first deputy district administrator; and Björn Backes from the City of Marburg’s Sports Office were all eager to attend the christening of the new boat.

The new four-person boat was funded by the school and will help further support the“Steinmühle and blista in the Same Boat” project. This also gave Claus Duncker, the chairman of blista, another opportunity to watch his students at work on the water.

Lucas Schäfer was also there for the season opener and was greeted with great fanfare, as he had won silver in the lightweight coxless pair over 2,000 meters at the German Championships on Beetzsee in Brandenburg/Havel, where he had won silver in the lightweight coxless pair over 2,000 meters in the final race with Alexander Diedrich from Treis-Karden. For Lucas, this runner-up finish at the German Championships is another step toward earning a spot on one of the national team’s boats.