Zeidler Tops van Dorp by Nine Seconds at World Sculling Finals

Two-time Olympic single sculls gold medalist Oliver Zeidler of Germany raced to a 8:10.83 finish on the 2,300-meter Berlin World Sculling Finals course Saturday morning with a 9.89 second margin over Dutch Paris Olympic bronze medalist Simon van Dorp in the event’s inaugural year.

Zeidler’s win, which he achieved in front of a well-attended river-side crowd, awarded him the first World Sculling Finals trophy as well as a €10,000 prize. Zeidler’s club, Frankfurter RG Germania, provided the trophy, the Kaiser Cup, from which dates back to 1880.

With this year being the first year the event was held, both competitors were unfamiliar with the course before they launched for their race-day warmup. By the time Zeidler and van Dorp reached the Rathaus Bridge, just 220 meters into the course, the German rower already had a boat length advantage and after the Karl-Liebknecht Bridge it had widened to two lengths. The course featured a tricky scattering of pylons, forcing the athletes to be hyper-aware of their course.

“It was an incredible experience rowing here in Berlin,” Zeidler said. “I’m already looking forward to defending my title next year.”

The regatta is a nod to the World Sculling Championships which ran from 1863-1957 and were modeled after a boxing style dual format. Landesruderverband Berlin, the Berlin State Rowing Association, plans to bring the event back to Berlin in 2025 with Zeidler defending his title.

“If you organize a race between single scullers, it’s only two people, and the chances are very high that this format is getting a lot of attention,” remarked Palme, the founder of rowing1.com and the deviser of the regatta. “It’s a chance to bring a new form to promote rowing. It’s from rowing enthusiasts for rowing enthusiasts. We want the athletes and coaches to be the focus. The idea is to showcase how had the athletes and coaches are working to bring out this kind of unbelievable talent. From the physical side there is no sport like rowing. Oliver and Simon are really unbelievable athletes.”

Watch the full race and find the full results at worldsculling.com.

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