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There was great excitement and pure emotion at the world’s first rowing sprint relay when 20,000 spectators lined the MainArena in Frankfurt and local hero, Marcel Hacker, capitalised on home advantage for the 'Great Eight' team.
 

“That was the toughest race ever in my entire career,” said an exhausted Marcel Hacker after his first victory at the Red Bull Ready to Row. “But it simply rocked!" At the world’s first ever rowing sprint relay at the MainArena in Frankfurt on Thursday, Germany's most famous rower celebrated a victory in the Great Eight ahead of Seeclub Zurich and the German Sports Aid Foundation’s Eight.

Around 20,000 rowing fans, who experienced a totally new competition format, saw enthralling changes, exciting duels and pure emotion on the water and particularly at the victory ceremony later on.

 

Fierce winds and strong currents had delayed the setting-up at the beginning of the event so that, eventually, only the two semi-finals were carried out as a relay competition. Hacker & Co. clinched their victory in a 800m sprint event. The competition had to end at exactly 21:00 hours in order to clear the European shipping route on the River Main.
 

Single sculls specialist, Hacker, who celebrated a second place at the World Cup in Munich only last weekend, was not only thrilled by the spectacular competition format but also by the great feedback. “I’d never reckoned with such a great number of spectators. It simply rocked! But what a bummer that due to the strong winds the setting-up took longer than planned and that we’ve not been able to carry out the entire competition as relays. Anyway – for us athletes it was simply a doozie.”

 

Between 19.00 and 21.00 hours the shipping channel on the Main for once belonged without exception to the small boats. During those two hours the big steamers all had to anchor at Holbeinsteg and Eiserner Steg.

 

Red Bull Ready to Row – there has never been anything like it! A rowing relay race and a human baton on the water. Eight athletes, four boats, two changing pontoons and 4x800m full speed.

 

The spectators lining the banks at Museumufer and on the bridges threw their hands up in horror as the boats raced up to the changing pontoons at full speed and only jammed the brakes with their oars at the very last moment.

 

A lot of hectic, loud yelling and cheering on among the athletes. Pure emotions: the changing on the 8x2m large shaky pontoons were really more than tricky. “I’ve never seen anything like this. The speed of the boats up to the pontoons - it’s sheer madness. But sure, every second counts. It was a super exciting event," said Claudia Kerner who had watched her very first rowing competition.

 

Due to the changes and the tactical challenges the race has been a great challenge for the international rowing elite. Not least because this unique rowing competition format not only makes great demands on the physique but the psyche is pushed to its limits as well. Eventually, the great endurance and nerves of steel of the highly decorated rowing professionals tipped the scales in favour of the 'Great Eight'.

 

 1^st place - Great Eight (ahead by about a boat length):
Marcel Hacker (captain), Karsten Brodowski, Michael Bieler, Martin Gulyas, Lassi Karonen, Tobias Kühne, Tim Maeyens, Ondrej Synek
2^nd place - Seeclub Zürich

Erik Vils (captain), Pascal Flory, Charles d´Oncieu, Olivier Gremaud, Pierre Glauser, Adrian Koller, Simon Gawlik, Tim Vollrath
3^rd place – German Sports Aid Foundation
Felix Bach (captain), Paul Heinrich, Kevin Rakicki, Hannes Ocik, Hubert Trzxeinsky, Alexander Egler, Jann-Edzard Junkhahn, Kay Rückrodt

 

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