In our own words
We began kayaking when we were very young, following the footsteps of our parents and grandparents. Soon it was not enough just to paddle around. We strived for more – and our sporting ambition has become steadily stronger ever since.
We live in Bremen and train at our home club on a small river, the Kleine Wümme, close to the University of Bremen. We both enjoy coaching the club’s younger athletes, which allows us to pass on our love of kayaking and the values it instils. We generally train on the local lakes, canals and rivers, but not all of our training regime is water-based. It also embraces running, gym work and athletics, as well as the many, many hours we spend in the swimming pool. Within Germany we compete for our local team KRG Bremen (Kanurenngemeinschaft Bremen).
Kayaking is primarily a summer sport and our competitive season goes from March to October. That frees us up for the rest of the year – to train, train and train again. What drives us? Nothing less than our passion for our sport. And it is this passion that makes everything possible.
Since 2013 and 2011 respectively, we have competed at international level every year, representing Germany in canoe marathons. For almost as long, we have been competing internationally in wildwater canoeing. When Sven outgrew the junior age class in 2016 and we were both eligible to compete in the men’s events, we decided to see what would happen if we shared a boat – to our surprise we proved to be an excellent team, and it was obvious that we could go far together. In the canoe marathon even more than in other events, experience is a vitally important factor, and let’s face it, time is on our side.
Our one trial session in a K2 has developed into a project that we are working for, day in, day out, no matter what the Bremen weather has to offer.
Because we believe we can achieve our goals. And because we know they are worth working for.