Oliver Zeidler: New club, old goals

Created: 04/21/2022, 10:00 am

By: Dieter Priglmeir

Proven duo: Heino Zeidler (r.) continues to train his son Oliver.

The Frankfurt rowing company Germania will take care of the administrative area.

I've already sat in the eight with the boys.

Oliver Zeidler on his new club Germania Frankfurt Less administrative work Most important regatta: European Championships in Munich © Detlev Seyb

Oliver Zeidler is moving to Germania Frankfurt.

His trainer and the training facility remain the same, and the goals anyway.

Schwaig

– There are world-class rowers who take a complete break in the year after the Olympics, says Oliver Zeidler.

The Dane Sverri Nielsen, for example, one of Schwaiger's toughest competitors in recent years.

Yes, even he, says Zeidler.

I "did a little less" in the pre-season than in 2021, but that was the intention.

Then he adds: "So far everything is going according to plan."

The national competition already felt this during the ergometer test, which traditionally marks the start of the rowing season.

In Leipzig, Zeidler managed the 2000 meters in under 5:40 minutes and was 14 seconds faster than Jonas Gelsen.

The U23 rower and fourth-placed at the Junior World Championships, Oliver Hotz, could in future "quite close to Zeidler's fur", as the new national coach Brigitte Bielig puts it.

The Schwaiger sees it easily: "Competition is good." And with the 5:39.8 minutes, the third best time he has set so far, he is very satisfied in view of the training workload so far.

As I said, things are going according to plan, and this also involves a different decision.

At the German championship at the weekend in Krefeld, Zeidler will start for the Frankfurt rowing company Germania for the first time.

The Hessians had asked before the Olympics, says Zeidler, and now the time is ripe for it.

That was not a decision against DRC Ingolstadt, emphasizes Zeidler.

His previous club, for which he won the German championship title in 2019, first place in the English Henley Royal Regatta, two European championship titles (2019, 2021), two overall World Cup victories (2018, 2021), the world championship title in 2019 and participation in the 2021 Olympics would have liked to keep it too.

"They turned all the wheels again, but then they were also very understanding," says Zeidler and explains: "Frankfurt simply offers more opportunities."

A lot of work will be eliminated in the future, especially in the administrative area.

"The contact with the association, organizing training camps, we no longer have to take care of that ourselves.

We can concentrate fully on the sport,” says Oliver Zeidler.

With "we" he includes his trainer: his father Heino, who is already looking forward to the next Olympic Games: "In order to be able to win a medal in Paris, we have to optimize all aspects of the preparation." The supporter network of Germania in the sports state of Hesse , with the sports city of Frankfurt and especially the economically strong Rhine-Main region offers reliability and stability.

"We need that for our second Olympic attempt." Some things are still being clarified, says Oliver Zeidler: His father is currently working as a police officer 40 hours a week.

"Perhaps there is a possibility that we can also achieve permanent support for my father in Hesse, so that he no longer has to work full-time," says the son.

In addition, it is still being explored what the sports promotion in the local state sports association looks like.

It has already been hinted that "Hesse does more than Bavaria," says Oliver Zeidler, who will continue to work for a tax service provider.

The financial thing has to be clarified so that the sport can work.

says Oliver Zeidler, who will continue to work for a tax service provider.

The financial thing has to be clarified so that the sport can work.

says Oliver Zeidler, who will continue to work for a tax service provider.

The financial thing has to be clarified so that the sport can work.

And most things stay the same.

Schwaig remains the center of life for the Zeidlers, and the training sessions will continue to be held on the regatta course in Oberschleißheim, with the Schwaiger now likely to have more frequent visits from his new club colleagues.

"I've already sat in the eight with the boys," remembers the one-world champion of his very first race, the traditional Roseninselachter regatta in Starnberg.

“They welcomed me very kindly at the time.

In the future he will be a kind of host when there are more training camps in Munich.

"I'm looking forward to it.

This is going to be a strong training group.

We all benefit from that.” His new club also sees it the way its spokesman Hartmut Buschbacher says: “Oliver is the ideal benchmark for our young talents for their own ambitions.”

Germania looks to the German small boat championships in Krefeld with corresponding expectations.

"Of course I'm going there to win," says Oliver Zeidler.

The competition is strong, but the task is doable.

He is facing the prelims, quarterfinals and semifinals as well as the final on Sunday at 11.05 a.m.

He has not yet reached his performance peak, he admits: "There is still room for improvement."

But the really big challenges are still waiting, like the first World Cup race in Belgrade, where the World Cup and Olympic qualifiers will be held in 2023.

He is also looking forward to the World Cup on his favorite track at Lucerne's Rothsee.

At some point this year the World Cup will also take place.

"But the highlight of the season is the European Championships in Munich," says Oliver Zeidler.

On the track where his grandfather Hans-Johann Färber once won Olympic gold 50 years ago with the Bulls foursome, he would like to defend his European Championship.

Zeidler: "That's a piece of family history."