Successful, experienced and hungry for success on the international stage: in the new Olympic cycle, the 470 mixed crews are once again one of the strongest groups that German Olympic sailing has on course for L.A. First and foremost, Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) won their first Grand Slam gold at the start of the year. The duo won the Semaine Olympique Française. Their team and training mates Theresa Löffler and Christopher Hoerr (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club/Segelclub Breitbrunn-Chiemsee) were hardly behind them in fourth place. Other newly formed duos such as Malte Winkel/ Paula Schütze (Schweriner Yacht-Club/ Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), Theres Dahnke/Paco Melzer (Plauer Wassersportverein/Potsdamer Yacht-Club) and younger ones are pushing up the rankings.
Three teams in the Medal Race
In the European Championship in May, the 470 teams Diesch/Markfort and Löffler/Hoerr finished fifth and sixth respectively. Three teams are on course for the medal race in the current World Championship: Dahnke/Melzer are surprisingly in fourth place, Diesch/Markfort in sixth and Winkel/Schütze in seventh. The GER crews in the oldest Olympic dinghy still active (and once again highly attractive thanks to the new mixed line-up since the last Olympics) have made a promising start on their Road to Los Angeles 2028.
They have ambitious plans, because the Olympic 470 record of German sailing does not reflect the consistently outstanding performance level of German sailors since the Olympic premiere in 1976. Only at the first Olympics did Frank Hübner and Harro Bode make a splash with their Olympic victory. Four years later, Jörn Borowski and Egbert Swensson took silver. After that, 470 crews never again managed to win an Olympic medal under the black, red and gold flag, despite their many successes.
Many world championship titles, but no Olympic medals
Neither the 1987 world champions Bernd Höft/Falko Bier nor the two-time world champions, Kieler Woche record winners and exceptional sailors Wolfgang Hunger and Rolf Schmidt were able to sail onto the podium at the Olympics. Nor did the impressive female DSV crews of the late 1980s and early 1990s, who won five world championship gold medals, such as Susanne Meyer/Kathrin Adlkofer (two world championship gold medals), Tanja Stemmler/Sabine Lenkmann (one world championship gold medal) or Ines Bohn/Sabine Rohatzsch (two world championship gold medals). The German 470 sailing team's Olympic medal drought has now lasted 45 years.
The best members of the German Sailing Team, who are not competing in the first half of Kiel Week this year, but in the second half from 25 to 29 June, think it's time to change that. Simon Diesch, nephew and son of the 1976 FD Olympic winners Jörg and Eckart Diesch, is making a second Olympic attempt with Anna Markfort. The first ended with 14th place at the Olympic regatta in Marseille after a hard-fought victory in the national qualifiers. Instead of just two years to prepare, Diesch/Markfort, who have only been sailing in one boat since 2022, now have four years to prepare with all the experience they have gained. The victory in Hyères at the beginning of the year was the golden starting signal for their medal target. Helmsman Simon Diesch says: "In the end, you have to know the feeling of winning. That's why it's really important to win along the way."
Kiel Week gives a foretaste of the Olympics
The hunters Theresa Löffler and Christopher Hoerr, who are around half a decade younger, are also looking to the future in their second Olympic campaign together. They have known each other since their Opti childhood and have been sailing together since 2019. Theresa Löffler, 25, says: "We learnt a lot from the first time. Of course, the plan now has to be to be number one not only nationally, but also internationally if possible. We were still an outsider team in our first campaign. The experience we gained is valuable for us."
It is still unclear who will be travelling to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles in the highly competitive class, but the competition will be exciting. Kiel Week will give a foretaste of this.
