Olympic sailing: "An unbelievable situation, but one that also offers opportunities"

Without the coronavirus pandemic, the national Olympic elimination in the women's 49erFX would now be decided. However, the final showdown between Tina Lutz/Susann Beucke (Chiemsee Yacht-Club/Hannoverscher Yacht-Club), who are leading the elimination with 28:16 points, and the Berlin hunters Vicky Jurczok/Anika Lorenz (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) has been postponed indefinitely. A rescheduling for this one of so many outstanding international qualifications and national competitions is still uncertain. The only thing that is clear is that the results achieved so far will remain valid for the Olympic Games, which have been postponed until summer 2021.

This means that Laser World Champion Philipp Buhl and the 49er World Championship bronze medallists Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel keep their early Olympic tickets in their pockets. However, many others will now have to wait until regattas are rescheduled and qualification plans are finalised. Nobody can say for sure when that will be. "This is an unbelievable situation, but it also offers opportunities. We have a feeling that it won't start again until September or October," says 49erFX headsailer Susann Beucke. The sailor from Strande has used the past few weeks for a personal project and converted her bus "with electricity, water and all the trimmings" on her own, so that she can now even live in it and is doing so. Because her coxswain Tina Lutz lives in Innsbruck, where she is writing her master's thesis and was also affected by the Austrian lockdown in the meantime, the 49erFX duo are not yet training together again. Sports soldier Beucke "goes out with younger sailors from time to time", but from today she is mainly preparing for the expansion of the new 49erFX for her team. "We've never had as much time as we do now. It's being developed with a lot of love. The opportunities for this are very good despite the crisis. The DSV has made a lot of things possible at the national base in Kiel."

The DSV squad sailors from the German Sailing Team in Kiel-Schilksee can alternate between working on land and - thanks to the exceptional authorisation obtained - also on the water, while observing the distance and hygiene regulations. Training groups with a maximum of two boats and one coach are permitted on the water. Like many team-mates, Beucke is currently experiencing the dichotomy between the activity demands of a competitive athlete and the limited conditions without regattas, but with plenty of uncertainty. "As an athlete, you often think, oh God, you have to keep going, training, doing something. You always want to plan everything, but that's hardly possible at the moment. I had a really good chat about this last week with our mental coach, who also looks after a number of volleyball players, for example. She only knows two competitive athletes who are doing full sport at the moment. Everyone else takes it easy. You relax, and that's a good thing. Due to a lack of deadlines, we are currently missing the regatta goals that we normally work towards. But that's how it is for everyone. And we're actually doing what we normally do on the water at the moment: We are adapting to new situations in the best possible way and as quickly as possible, adjusting with new developments."

Susann Beucke has noticed "a different, better mood in the country" around her. Most of the people around her have accepted the crisis and are being considerate and friendly towards each other. "Of course there are people who have been hit hard in terms of their health or finances," says Beucke, "but you can feel the general endeavour to cope." For the skiff sailor, the postponement of the Olympic Games by one year brings with it another area of tension, as she is considering switching to the mixed offshore discipline, which has been added to the Olympic programme for 2024. However, the new programme still has to be sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This decision was originally scheduled for the end of 2020 after the Olympic Games. Whether it will now also be postponed remains to be seen. World Sailing President Kim Andersen confirmed to YACHT online that there is no new or different information on this yet. For the time being, Susann Beucke is focussing fully on the skiff for another year. The possible Olympic offshore commitment has been postponed. "We can and want to concentrate on one thing as a team, and that is the FX."