Already at the entrance you notice that here is definitely not as busy as at other competitions. There are significantly fewer people on the road, but that also means the crowd is not as big. Actually, everything looks quite inconspicuous. A few information booths, a small fan store and the sausage and sweets stalls, which of course can't be missed. From here you can't really see the regatta course.
Only after the entrance control you get down a big staircase to the grandstand and get a view of the turquoise blue water. A light breeze blows over the water and refreshingly caresses your face. At first, it actually feels a bit like a vacation. If it weren't for the shrill chants from the loudspeaker and the commentators' introductions. What is very pleasing on such a hot day is that the entire grandstand is in the shade. This makes it pleasantly cool and the view of the water is not disturbed by the sun. The guests in the standing grandstand on the opposite side of the waterway are less fortunate. They are exposed to the blazing sun all day. But that doesn't seem to bother them at all. With picnic blankets, some have set up camp on the open lawn for the next few hours. Nevertheless, you can see on both grandstands that the rush of visitors is limited. Almost everywhere the crowd is split up by free seats.
From the front row you have a perfect view of the last hundred meters before the finish line, as well as of individual athletes running back and forth several times in front of the grandstand. They all have huge, almost oversized, colorful mirrored sunglasses on as a common identifying mark.
At the beginning it is quiet on the water and it stays that way most of the time. While on the front lanes the athletes row towards the starting line with a time delay in order to get to their positions in time, the races take place on the back lanes. Whether single sculls, eights or Para, each race goes over the entire regatta length of 2,000 meters.
Since the seating grandstand has been erected along the finish line, most of the competition takes place on the screen. Only in the last one hundred meters do you see the athletes, gritting their teeth, rowing past in their boats. By the way, a distinction is made here between sculling and oar rowing. In sculling, the athletes have a firm grip on two paddles, while in oar rowing they each hold only one paddle.
Parallel to the rowers, coaches start on the bike path next to the course, cheering and motivating their athletes the whole way. On the other side, two camera carts follow the race and provide the images on the monitor.
Since today several decisions take place one after the other, the award ceremony is celebrated directly in the break between the races. This goes on for quite a while. Watching the main part of the race on the screen, then watching the more or less exciting finishes and then applauding the winners of the previous race.
If you need a little break in between and have been seduced by the permanent smell of French fries coming from all directions from the grandstand, you can always get something to eat. What was not noticed at the entrance, next to the food stands is a small beer garden in the shade and a huge area piled up with fine sand. There you can relax in a hammock or stick your feet in the sand with a cool drink. The little ones have also been thought of, and can let off steam with a game of spikeball. From the early afternoon onwards, the Roofs Festival will also provide musical entertainment. By the way, access to the Golden Beach Roof is free of charge, so everyone can enjoy the beach feeling.
In the further course of the day, the Germans were not exactly convincing, but were still able to secure two bronze medals. The first was in the Para Mixed Four, the second was won by 20-year-old Alexandra Föster in the Single. The winners of the day were the British, the Dutch and the Romanians, who each won two gold medals. Greece also did well with one gold medal and three silver medals.
The rowing competitions are finished with this Sunday. But if you still want to see the regatta facility in action, you can cheer along in canoe racing starting August 18.
Text & photos: Laura Kimpfbeck