A shower of medals for the FRVS at the first Vaʻa Sprint European Championship

A premiere as announced: at the first Vaʻa Sprint European Championship, to which Great Britain Outrigger had invited at Dorney Lake west of London, the FRVS 1898 set the standard. In the best of conditions, our outrigger athletes delivered top performances across all boat and age classes – and returned to Frankfurt with a whole bundle of medals.

Racing was in the single (V1) and the six (V6): over 500 m, in the V6 additionally as a turns race over 1000 m and 1500 m on a 250 m course. Nine athletes from Frankfurt, Berlin, Hannover and Ladenburg started for the German team – the Frankfurt contingent of the FRVS shaping the result decisively.

Strong start in the single (V1)

Already on the first day of competition, our single specialists showed that they belong to the European elite. Christiane Pape paddled to bronze in the open women's class (2:48.14) and to silver in the Master 40 (2:42.67). Florian Späth secured bronze in the open men (2:25.52) and celebrated the European title in the Master 40 (2:28.86). His clubmate André Niemann completed the Frankfurt double with silver in the Master 40 (2:29.37). In the Master 50, Lars Littfin also rowed to the silver rank in 2:28.83.

Unbeatable in the six (V6)

On the second day the team races were on – and here the FRVS teams dominated the competition at will. Both the mixed boat and the Master 40 men each won over 500 m (2:03.92 and 2:04.02 respectively) and in the 1000 m turns race (5:26.66 and 5:35.98 respectively) – making four European titles for the FRVS on a single day. The German elite boat, in which Frankfurters also sat, had to admit defeat by only 0.8 seconds to the hosts from Great Britain in the Elite Open V6 over 500 m (2:00.00, 2nd place).

The FRVS medals at a glance

• Christiane Pape – V1 Open women: bronze · V1 Master 40 women: silver
• Florian Späth – V1 Open men: bronze · V1 Master 40 men: gold
• André Niemann – V1 Master 40 men: silver
• Lars Littfin – V1 Master 50 men: silver
• FRVS mixed – V6 500 m: gold · V6 1000 m: gold
• FRVS Master 40 men – V6 500 m: gold · V6 1000 m: gold

More than just results

As successful as the result was, the togetherness stays in the memory at least as much. The team was warmly welcomed everywhere, and the organisers of Great Britain Outrigger managed to make the spirit so typical of this sport, and the feeling of a real family togetherness, tangible. It's exactly this shared passion that connects the outrigger scene across national borders too.

The competitions were at the same time an important benchmark on the way to the Sprint World Championships in August in Singapore. After the successful premiere, the FRVS too looks ahead optimistically: the European Vaʻa Sprints have what it takes to develop into a fixed highlight in European vaʻa sport – and our Frankfurt paddlers are right in the middle of it.