In the 49er and 49er FX classes in Strander Bucht, it was already possible to see what the Olympic qualification, which begins after Kieler Woche, will bring: Duels between friends. In both disciplines, several German crews form very effective training communities. The sailors are friends with each other and spur each other on to top performances on the water. The German 49er and 49er FX crews are envied abroad for this.
But the difficult part of this luxury situation begins now: At the 49er and 49er FX European Championships off Porto in Portugal from 6 July, the GER crews will have to switch to attack. This is because the continental title fights mark part one of the three-part national Olympic qualification, in which only the best team in each event can secure a ticket to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. At the same time, the qualification criteria of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) must be fulfilled. The second qualifying regatta is the 2016 World Championships in Buenos Aires for the men and the 2016 World Championships in Clearwater, USA, for the women. The third and final part for both 49er FX women and 49er men will be the Spanish classic Princess Sofía Trophy off Palma de Mallorca in spring 2016. By then at the latest, it will be clear who will be competing for Olympic medals in Brazil.
According to the motto "There can only be one", the Berlin 49er European champions Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel and the Kielers Justus Schmidt and Max Böhme, who have recently come on strong and led the men's race at Kieler Woche, are now two teams on an equal footing in the duel for the Olympic ticket. Justus Schmidt, who, together with his co-skipper Max Böhme, had built up an almost fabulous lead of 23.5 points over the actual favourites Heil/Plößel after three days of racing off Kiel, said: "We're having a good run here. And we can see that these guys are also beatable. But with their performances so far, they have every reason to be very confident. The good results of our two teams are thanks to our training group, which is obviously also doing a good job in co-operation with the Danish Olympic champion Jonas Warrer and Thomas Anders. And it will stay that way."
In the women's event, five crews are aiming for a medal under the German flag before Rio. However, only one starting place is available in their discipline. In contrast to the men, who still have to fight for the German starting place, the women have already secured it with fifth place for Victoria Jurczok and Anika Lorenz at the 2014 World Championships off Santander. However, the starting place does not automatically belong to the two Berliners from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club - any German 49er FX team can take it if they prevail in the three-part elimination. These include: Tina Lutz/Susann Beucke (Holzhausen/Strande; Chiemsee Yacht Club/Hannoverscher Yacht-Club), Victoria Jurczok/Anika Lorenz (Berlin/Kiel, Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee), Leonie Meyer/Elena Stoffers (Kiel, Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Kieler Yacht-Club), Jule and Lotta Görge (Kiel; Kieler Yacht-Club) and also the talented youngsters Ann-Kristin and Pia Sophie Wedemeyer from the Duisburger Yacht-Club.
So far, both the men's and women's teams have trained together in an open and extremely friendly manner, which is why they have been so successful. Everyone hopes that they can take this good feeling with them into the competition. They all hope that difficult situations will not lead to arguments, envy and ugliness. They have drawn up and signed a declaration of intent to this effect on their own initiative. Jule Görge says: "We have agreed an open dialogue with the entire team and hope that it stays that way."
However, we know from previous battles in the fight for the sporting dream of a lifetime that things can turn out differently; after years of hard work and many hardships, there is a lot at stake. "The crunch comes with the first elimination and the teams' reaction to it. We're all worried that our training group will then fall apart," says helmswoman Leonie Meyer. In the last Olympic cycle, Tina Lutz/Susann Beucke and Kathrin Kadelbach/Friederike Belcher got into such a heated argument that it went to court. This would be a nightmare for the teams, who had promised themselves a peaceful relationship for this Olympic cycle. Coach Max Groy explains: "It is both a luxury and a challenge to be able to work with such a strong group." He, too, will be called upon to calm the waves that could arise for the first time at the European Championships in Porto in the second week of July.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
