On the first weekend of the new school year, the individual houses set out on their traditional house trips. The main house headed to Cologne. “We stayed at a campground on the southern outskirts of the city at Rhine kilometer 681. In addition to barbecuing, we spent time on the sandy beach along the Rhine. Saturday morning was packed with action thanks to a laser tag tournament. In a two-story hall that we had all to ourselves, two out of three teams competed for glory and honor. To wrap things up, we took a stroll through Cologne and, of course, snapped a photo at the cathedral before rounding out the evening with a Kölsch for the adults and a soft drink for the kids. Thanks to the nice weather, the weekend felt like a little bit of a belated vacation.”

The Hessenhaus set out on a trip to Bad Dürkheim. “We spent our first evening together around a campfire at a well-equipped campground—of course, we had to have some grilled food and marshmallows. The next day, we headed to Holiday Park. After a fun-filled and eventful day on various rides, we enjoyed the evening with a meal together. Before returning to the Steinmühle, we couldn’t miss out on a round of bowling on Sunday—during which everyone developed their own technique to hit the target.”

The Westfalenhaus spent an eventful day at Phantasialand. “After some navigation difficulties, we arrived—slightly late—at the crowded amusement park and soon threw ourselves into the fray. In small groups, we roamed the park and tried out the various rides. The “Colorado” roller coaster proved particularly popular and was soon honored with a song composed especially for it. We all enjoyed the combination of short wait times and thrilling rides. Most of us used the time in the lines for lively conversations and to get to know old and new students and chaperones better. Between visits to the attractions, we enjoyed the packed lunches we’d brought with us. In high spirits, we set off for Marburg in the evening and rounded out the day with a variety of pizzas at our local Steinmühle.”

The group set off for Rotterdam—450 km away—and the North Sea coast. “The weather tended to be rather changeable, although we were able to enjoy mostly sunny weather, except for the trip back. We spent the night in an interesting hostel in the center of Rotterdam. All the sights—and there’s plenty to see, even for young people, in this lively city with its international flair—were within easy walking distance. On the second day, some of us at least dipped our feet into the refreshing North Sea at the “Nordstrand” in The Hague.
Afterward, we visited parts of the deep-sea port, watched many a ship sail by with a touch of longing, and, after dinner, brought the day to a festive close with a visit to the fascinatingly illuminated harbor festival.”

On August 11, Lucas Schäfer and his teammates on the coxless four (Tobias Franzmann, Lars Wichert, and Jonathan Koch) achieved a major success at the Olympic Games by finishing third in the B final.

After a somewhat unfortunate performance in the preliminary round and a dominant showing in the repechage, the team led by coxswain Lucas narrowly missed qualifying for the A final. In the B final, it became clear that the detour through the repechage had taken a heavy toll on the team. Nevertheless, the lightweight four could be satisfied overall with their performance in Rio.

Steinmühle is proud of its club rower and former student (high school graduate, 2014), who is already planning the next steps in his career with his coach, Martin Stomenger, and has his sights firmly set on the 2020 Olympics.

Here is an overview of the lightweight four races: