Rowing: Oliver Zeidler defends the world title

Created: 09/25/2022, 20:18

By: Markus Schwarzkugler

Back at the top: Oliver Zeidler with the gold medal, supported by runner-up Melvin Twellaar (left) and bronze winner Graeme Thomas.

Beaten back after setbacks The next peak in the direction of the association © Jan Stastny/Imago

After the recent setbacks, Oliver Zeidler showed everyone on Sunday.

For the second time, the Schwaiger was crowned world champion in single rowing.

Schwaig/Racice – As embarrassing as the World Championships were otherwise for the German Rowing Association, in the end it was so nice for a remarkable athlete from Schwaig: Oliver Zeidler won the one-finals in Racice, Czech Republic, on Sunday afternoon, his title from Defended in 2019 and somehow saved the honor of the DRV - to which the relationship of the Zeidlers is not necessarily the best at the moment.

So it was a demonstration of power by the exceptional rower in more ways than one.

"Whether I can compete for a medal depends on whether I can stand the last few meters or not," the 26-year-old told our newspaper after his victory in the semifinals on Friday.

In the first few meters of the two-kilometre course, you had to worry for a moment in the final whether he didn't want to save a few grains too much right at the start this time - Zeidler started very leisurely.

But those anxious moments passed quickly.

After one minute, Zeidler was already a boat length ahead, and after 500 meters it was almost three seconds.

In the end, with the exception of the very first meters, it was a start-to-finish victory.

“The wind turned to a headwind for the race.

In the first 500 meters I already thought that he might overdo it”, admitted Oliver's father and trainer Heino Zeidler shortly after the race.

"But the more it went towards 1500 meters, the more confident I was," said the proud dad, who had concocted the following with his son: "For the last 500 meters and then ignite the turbo.

The plan worked perfectly.”

So there was no chance for the Dutchman Melvin Twellaar, who ended up second and, as European champion, was actually considered the top favorite by Munich, who had left Zeidler behind in the quarter-finals.

In the end, the two separated by 1.45 seconds.

Third was Britain's Graeme Thomas, 2.77 seconds back.

"This is the sense of achievement I've been waiting for for a long time," said the newly crowned world champion, who happily stretched his index finger towards the sky after crossing the finish line.

Pressure had certainly weighed on his shoulders after the Olympic low point with the missed final in Tokyo 2021 and the disappointing fourth place just six weeks ago at the European Championships in Munich.

His father Heino admitted: "The preparation was shaky, I demanded a lot from him, raised the bar even higher.

He was already very tired and insecure in the training camp.” After the final, father and son hugged each other with relief, a lot of pressure had been relieved.

"He thanked me," said Dad - just for the hard course, which ultimately led to the right path.

So the duo has silenced all doubters for now.

In any case, the world champion couldn't resist a dig at the association: "This success shows that my father and I do good, professional work, even though we're not at a federal base and he's not the national coach," said Oliver Zeidler.

A bold statement after a bold race.

After that, by the way, it was - well deserved - a merry and humid time: "One or the other beer will still work", announced the old and new world champion overjoyed.