Hurricane Irma caused severe devastation in the venue of the World Rowing Championships – also around the World Championships regatta course. But there is no sign of that at the moment, says Johannes Weißenfeld, who is currently preparing for the World Rowing Championships with the Germany eights team in Florida. The World Cup could be carried out without any problems. “You really see almost nothing. I was very surprised. I imagined it to be much worse.”
There was definitely a queasy feeling in advance. “We followed it in the media. We were then positively surprised here on site. Accordingly, we can do things quite well here, just as we imagined.”
Weißenfeld sees the fact that the World Rowing Championships are taking place in Florida, despite the extensive damage, as the right sign. “It has to go on somehow – maybe people could use a little distraction.” The team is currently mentally preparing for difficult conditions. “The weather is a bit more unsettled and changeable, which is very atypical.”
Strong competition from the Netherlands
With a view to the races, Weißenfeld expects strong competition from the Netherlands. The Brits “haven’t gotten off to a good start this season”. Nevertheless, you always have to reckon with them. Weißenfeld also praised the good organization of the British. In the past, they often lived closer to the track or were better positioned in terms of nutrition.
However, there were also some improvements for the German team this year. “This time we have a very short journey, that’s about ten minutes with the team bus.” At the Olympic Games in Rio 2016, the team had to cope with a daily commute of two hours to the regatta course.
Weißenfeld underscores the German team’s role as favorites at the World Cup in Florida. “The season went almost perfectly from our point of view – with a world best time, overall World Cup winner, European champion – we couldn’t achieve much more this season. We’re going about it very confidently.”
The increase in performance certainly has something to do with the change of coach, says Weißenfeld. The preparation for the season was different – especially the communication between coaches and athletes. “We worked more individually. We trained a little less, but put more quality into the training.”
Statements made by our interlocutors reflect their own views. Deutschlandfunk does not adopt the statements of its interlocutors in interviews and discussions as its own.