Regatta news: Hagen defends himself against Schümann criticism

The new team manager for Athens, Jochen Schümann, is facing headwinds from the active camp. In an open letter to YACHT online, Hamburg's Alexander Hagen defends himself against Schümann's statements on his Olympic qualification.

According to the official elimination rules, Hagen's competitor Marc Pickel was stripped of the Olympic standard he achieved last year after he split up with his co-skipper Toni Kolb. As Pickel did not meet the Olympic standard again this year, but Hagen fulfilled the criterion with fourth place at the European Championships, the final elimination series at the end of the month in Medemblik has become invalid according to the regulations. In a dpa report, Schümann argued that the withdrawal of Pickel's status was open to interpretation and that an extension of the elimination series was therefore possible.

In his letter, Hagen complains about the nature of the communication, among other things. "I believe Jochen has nothing against me," says Hagen. "We've known each other for almost 30 years. He sat on our sofa right after reunification. However, he is acting against my Olympic qualification. After hearing about his objections from third parties for almost a week, I wrote him a polite email (I couldn't reach him by phone). He wanted to tell me personally what problems he had with our winning the Olympic qualification, as I didn't want to believe the rumours. His dpa report then went out to all the media."

Schümann was quoted as saying: "There was an erroneous report in recent weeks that the qualifiers for the Star boats and Mistral surfers had ended. In my view, however, the continuation of the national qualification will ensure that our team becomes even more competitive." He continues: "Both Alex Hagen and Marc Pickel have fulfilled the NOK/DSB standard this year and last year respectively. Alex Hagen is the clear leader in the qualification, but in view of the fact that both teams have recently been on the edge in terms of performance, the further competition between the two will only be good for the level."

It was only after a press conference in Hamburg two days later, at which DSV President Dierk Thomsen confirmed Hagen's nomination, that Schümann called Hagen "to justify himself and explain his position once again that he still saw things quite differently." According to Hagen, the conversation went as follows: "He wouldn't allow me to explain my point of view in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. If I had something to say to him, I would have to call him, it was his phone money that was being used. When I asked him "Excuse me?", he repeated the sentence and then put the phone down. The conversation lasted less than three minutes."

Hagen can't understand the discussion: "The fact is that we won the 2004 Olympic elimination on the water. The criteria are clear and we were the only ones to fulfil them. They are not open to interpretation."

According to Hagen, what Schümann calls the "lack of strategy on the part of the association" is in fact the strict adherence to a written qualification procedure signed by all those involved. This was already seven years old and had already recruited the 2000 Olympic team for Sydney, which included Jochen Schümann. The concept proved to be so good that it was adopted virtually unchanged for Athens.

"I was injured last year," Hagen continues, "and only had the two chances in 2004, just like Pickel/Borkowski, to lift the high A squad/NOK standard (European Championships 1st to 5th place, World Championships 1st to 12th place). We made it with fourth place at the European Championships, the others didn't."

"As one of the world's most successful Star boat sailors of all time (including two Gold and seven Silver Stars) and their European President, I don't want to be told publicly by my team boss that I landed a one-off lucky shot and that this can't be a good example for the next generation."

Hagen concluded: "I'll leave it to the DSV bosses and above all Jochen himself to decide whether the necessary relationship of trust has been created here for a fruitful collaboration with a view to Athens. I'm really looking forward to the Games and will definitely be looking forward to finishing my Olympic career with Jochen Wolfram in Athens in August - with or without Jochen Schümann."