This special family history fits perfectly with the Munich Olympic anniversary. 50 years after his grandfather’s rowing gold medal, Oliver Zeidler is aiming for the European Championship title this week on the same regatta course in Oberschleißheim.
“I definitely want to win a medal. It would be nice if I could defend my European title,” says the 26-year-old. As a two-time European and one-time World Champion, he is one of the top candidates for a German gold medal at the European Championships from August 11th to 21st in Munich.
Oberschleißheim “second home”
The 2.03 meter tall model athlete from Schwaig near Erding comes to the regatta course, which grandfather Hans-Johann Färber also calls “the second home”, almost every day. While the grandson is preparing for training on this sunny morning, Färber likes to think back to the Olympic moment of his foursome in an interview with the German Press Agency. First the boat was called the Deutschland- or Bodensee-Four, before later the “Bear-Four” or “Bull-Four” was mentioned, which won in front of the DDR-Boot.
“It was the greatest success of my career, in which I experienced many defeats and high points,” says the 75-year-old with a smile – and expects special feelings during the EM days: “The memories of 1972 will really come back to life . I’m hoping for a suitable setting. There probably won’t be as many spectators as in 1972.” At that time the interest was huge.
Like Zeidler, who is trained by his father Heino – also an ex-rower – Farber can often be found at the regatta course. He trains Zeidler’s sister Marie-Sophie, who also competes in the title fights in Munich. Overall, the rudder family is even bigger. Uncle Matthias Ungemach was world champion in the eights, aunt Judith Zeidler Olympic champion in the eights. “It’s not so much the genes, but more the attitude that you’ve picked up. You’re always responsible for your own success anyway, because you have to do a lot for it,” says Oliver Zeidler.
He himself is certainly a prime example of this. He used to be a swimmer, but after his training group broke up, he only switched to rowing in 2016. His strength values ??were outstanding, but such a change is not a sure-fire success. “Ergometers don’t float, as they say in rowing,” explains Zeidler. “There is much more to it than strength values. Feeling, technique and understanding of the whole matter.”
Always great enthusiasm for rowing in the family
The grandfather probably never thought that one day his grandson would be able to emulate him in this sport. “When he was 15 or 16, he fell into the water after a few hits,” Farber recalls. “Then he said, Grandpa, that’s not a sport for me. It’s better in the water than on the water.” But then everything turned out differently. “It’s nice that two grandchildren have found their way to rowing without being forced to do so and have stuck with it with great love and enthusiasm,” says the 75-year-old.
The family has always had a passion for sport. It makes sense when you discover Grandpa in the illustrated book of the 1972 Summer Games. “As a child you looked at the medals and Olympic books. I thought it was cool to see pictures of my grandfather in them,” recalls Oliver Zeidler.
On Thursday he will start at the championships, where 177 European Championship medal decisions are pending in nine Olympic disciplines, right at the start. The one-on-one final takes place on Sunday. “The Olympic victory was the greatest success of grandpa’s career – and in front of a home crowd it’s of course something very special. He told me a lot about back then, with the track, with the spectators,” says the athlete from Frankfurt’s RG Germania. “It’s hard to imagine such enthusiasm in rowing today as it was back then.”
An Olympic medal – like the one in grandfather’s living room cupboard – is also Zeidler’s big goal. As a gold candidate, he only finished seventh in Tokyo last year. “The year 2021 is over for me, I’m looking ahead,” he says. “The Olympic Games are back in two years, so the focus is on that now. We’ll continue until Paris and then we’ll see.”
