Olympic sailing: Three European Championship medals are reminiscent of Germany's 470 glory days

With three medals at the 470 European Championships, the German 470 sailors have put an almost sensational exclamation mark behind their recent sharp rise in performance just over two months before the World Championships for all Olympic disciplines in Aarhus, Denmark. German teams have not been this successful in the Olympic two-handed class for a long time. Berliners Frederike Loewe (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) and Anna Markfort (Joersfelder Segel-Club) sailed to silver, beaten only by Tina Mrak and Veronika Macarol from Slovenia. Nadine Boehm and Ann-Christin Goliass from the German Touring Yacht Club completed the women's double success with bronze. "It feels like a double victory," said a delighted Frederike Loewe about the strong team result, which was successfully rounded off by the young NRV crew Fabienne Oster and Anastasiya Winkel in tenth place.

National coach Marek Chocian and his protégés were finally able to reap the rewards of the work that has seen the 470 sailors improve so steadily and significantly over the past few months. "The team is the key! We had problems with teamwork during the last Olympics, but now everyone is pulling together. I've always said that we can only move forward as a team. The team is the most important factor! This success is the result of the changes we have made. We are happy, but we are still a long way from reaching our goal. Our next big task is to secure national qualification for the 2020 Olympics at the World Championships in Aarhus."

Two German sailors trained by Robert Remus, Malte Winkel (Schweriner Yacht Club) and Matti Cipra (Plauer Wassersportverein), also made it onto the podium in the men's race. Simon Diesch (Württembergischer Yacht-Club) and Philipp Autenrieth (Bayerischer Yacht-Club) narrowly missed out on the medal race in eleventh place.

For the World Championships of all Olympic disciplines in Aarhus, Denmark, in August, where the first nation qualifications for the 2020 Olympic Games will be at stake, the DSV 470 fleet's impressive display at these European title fights came at the right time - they are once again a force to be reckoned with. The current European Championship successes are reminiscent of the former glory days of German 470 sailors, when world champions such as Jörn Borowski, Eckbert Svensson, Wolfgang Hunger, Rolf Schmidt, Susanne Meyer, Katrin Adlkofer, Tanja Stemmler, Ines Bohn, Sabine Rohatzsch and many others were the measure of all things worldwide.

Coxswain Nadine Boehm said: "These European Championship successes are certainly a result of our teamwork over the past few months - how we push ourselves and make ourselves strong! If we continue to work like this with our coach Marek Chocian, our chances of securing the national qualification at the World Championships should be just as good - the big goal for all of us."

"We feel well prepared for Aarhus," said helmswoman Frederike Loewe from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club. "We've now been in the medal race three times in three regattas this year, and the trend is upwards. That's a good sign. Fitness and consistency were the issues at this European Championship. We were often knocked out, but we never let up." Nadine Boehm and Ann-Christin Goliass secured their bronze medal with a fierce performance and third place in the medal final. "We fought to the end. We knew we had to give everything, never let up and are now super, super happy."

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