Max John smiles when he is summoned to the national base of the German Rowing Association in Dortmund. The 25-year-old did it. He is part of the team of the German eight and is now supposed to help the parade boat find its way to a new shape. Visually, the 1.98 meter tall and 96 kilogram John already gives the impression of being the right man for the job at the side of established colleagues like Torben Johannesen.
Alexander Davydov
Sports editor.
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However, John's strength is not only related to his imposing stature, but also lies in the fact that he is a career changer when it comes to rowing. "I was originally involved in canoeing, but had to quit at the age of 16 because of a knee injury," he said on Wednesday at the presentation. "Because it would have been a shame if my fitness, which I had trained over the years, withered away, my coach at the time took me rowing to see if it was something for me."
John with diligence and discipline
John noticed during the first test drive that raw power alone would not get him very far on the filigree boat: "It was clear to me that it was only a matter of time before I went swimming with it - but apparently not my instructor," says John. "And then it happened that we ended up in the water – and that was in February."
The dreams of the Olympics, which John still had while paddling at the time, had to be thoroughly reconsidered. But he was driven by the old ambition. With diligence and discipline, John worked on the deficits: He learned new movements, refined the technique and quickly collected the first successes. In the U23 age group, he finished fourth in the four-man at the 2018 World Championships and fifth in the eights at the 2019 World Championships.
But before John could enter the A-area, the next setbacks followed: First the Olympic Games in Tokyo were postponed because of Corona, then John broke his ankle in an accident and even had to relearn to walk after the operation. This did not take away his will to fight his way back to the top. At times, John even had to slow himself down out of sheer overzealousness to avoid further injuries: "I put it on a bit. I have to be careful that sometimes I act more with my head and not with too much ambition and too much momentum."
Now there is a lot at stake for John in the coming months. On May 25, the European Rowing Championships begin in Slovenia. This will be followed by the World Cup in Serbia in September, where qualification for the Olympic Games in Paris will be at stake. After the disappointing placings in last year's major competitions, there is a lot of pressure on the entire team.
"We have a tough game ahead of us with the British and the Dutch," says Sabine Tschäge with a view to the upcoming European Championships. "But I also think it's quite good, then we know directly what the state of affairs is with us." She trusts the team, which is young with an average age of around 25 years. In addition to John, Tschäge has brought Marc Kammann on board as a batsman. The goal is to reconnect with the medal ranks.