Marcus Schwarzrock knows what it takes to become an Olympic champion. Already at the Olympic Games in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016, he was co- or main responsible as coach for the quad scull to win the gold medal in each case. This is one of the reasons why he was chosen as discipline coach & sporting director of the German men’s scull division in 2017 and thus became the main head coach. Since only Oliver Zeidler, the single scull rower, was able to convince at the World Championships, a new selection period began at the start of the Olympic season, in which three factors are decisive for the head coach: erg time, performance in the single scull and the adaptability in the team boats. Not an easy task for the experienced coach, taking these factors into account, to fill the boats with the right athletes. A never-ending process under particularly high pressure situations. Will the new occupations of the boats bring the prospected success and make Marcus Schwarzrock one of the most successful German rowing trainers?
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Professional sport means above all renouncement. Timo Piontek, for whom last year was anything but easy, knows that too. At the World Championships in Linz everything goes well for him and the quad – until the final race.
Stephan Krüger is one of the best rowers in Germany: World, European champion and three-time Olympic athlete. But he also has to face the tough selection of the double scull. The seat races are an extreme situation for body and mind, which not all athletes are up to.
Finally, the quad forms a solid unit. The two youngsters Max Appel & TOle Naske and the experienced Olympic champions Hans Gruhne and Karl Schulze are ready for the World Cup season, but in the middle of the euphoria they are torn from their dreams.
After an eight-week break from training, the team is finally allowed to go back on the water. U23 world champion Marc Weber, in particular, is eager to return and has big plans. Meanwhile, an old friend is back on the team.