Lucas Schäfer and his four-man crew took second place at the U23 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

On July 26, 2015, Steinmühlen rower Lucas Schäfer achieved his greatest success to date on the international stage. The lightweight four, which had qualified directly for the final, secured an outstanding second-place finish behind the dominant Italian boat. In the end, they managed to fend off the challenges from the French and British boats.

According to the World Rowing Federation’s minutes, the sequence of events was as follows:

“Japan and Italy qualified directly for their A-final from their respective heats, but it was France that posted the fastest qualifying time in the repechage. In fact, every boat in the repechage was faster than the boats in the heats.

Italy was in the lead in the first quarter. They reached the 500-meter mark at a rate of 39 strokes per minute. France was in second place and Germany in third.

“At the halfway point, Germany had moved up to second place, while France had fallen back to fourth, and Great Britain was in a position to potentially win the bronze medal. Italy’s lead was clear-cut, and they remained untouchable. Germany held off the British crew to take silver.”

Results: ITA, GER, GBR, FRA, JPN, USA