FISA Athlete of the Month: Elke Hipler - January 2008

Experience what is going on inside an elite athlete’s mind

World Rowing takes a look behind the dreadlocks of

Elke Hipler and gives you a glimpse into one of Germany’s best current athletes. From her winter training camp in St Moritz, Switzerland, Elke comes in off her cross country skis to describe the ups and downs of an elite athlete.

Elke talks about why she disappeared from the international scene after earning a World Championship silver and then reappearing in top form. She also explains what it is like competing in two events at the World Rowing Championships and how she sees herself as stroke of the eight.

World Rowing: Tell us a bit about your background in rowing.
Elke Hipler: Since I was little I always wanted to row because I liked the idea of learning this new movement and being out on the lake, with a boat, like my grandfather did. I was not interested in doing normal “girlie” things like riding, dancing, playing tennis or collecting Bon Jovi posters. I wanted to do something stronger. So when I was 12, my grandfather finally took me to his rowing club, ETUF Essen. The rest of my family has not much to do with rowing, but my Mum and Dad often come watching me at regattas in Germany.

Today, I think I love rowing because it simply makes life more dramatic. Rowing, especially competitive rowing, lets you experience a lot of things in an intensive way: strength, exhaustion, mental pressure, satisfaction, gladness, relaxation, disappointment, hope, harmony, perfection. I enjoy it and it will be very hard to quit rowing one day.

WR: Looking back a bit you finished second in the pair at the 1999 World Rowing Championships but didn’t compete internationally again until 2002. What happened?
EH: When we finished second in the pair at St. Catharines, I was so incredibly happy and thought it was the start of my future successful sports life. We were training hard for the Olympics in Sydney, but when the season started Kathleen (Naser) suffered from back pain. She did not mention it very loud so we continued rowing and only finished fourth at the first national competition in the pair. Then they discovered she had a herniated disc in her back. That was the end of the dream. Then in the eight we did not qualify. So I made the best of my situation and travelled to Ecuador, not giving any attention to what was going on in Sydney.

In winter 2000/2001 I tried to train but one illness followed another. So I decided to take a year off. In 2002 with my new partner we concentrated more on university than on rowing, so we finished “just” eighth in the pair.

In winter 2002/2003 I was very angry about the failures of the last three years and trained as much as I could. Finally success came back in 2003 as part of the eight winning the gold medal in Milan.

WR: What was your 2004 Olympic experience like?
EH: The Olympic Games in Athens weren’t the great experience we had wished for. We were so disappointed finishing fifth in the final (women’s eight) and so close behind the medals!

One of my favourite memories is when we marched into the stadium for the closing ceremony. There were so many people standing behind the fences, waving, shouting or just smiling to us as if we were really outstanding people. It made us feel special.

Another nice memory is the clothes trading that took place almost all day and night in front of the dining hall in the Olympic village. There you could meet so many people from all over the world who did sports other than rowing.

WR: Why did you take a break after 2004?
EH: After spending so much time and energy just in rowing, I needed to take a break and do something different. There is so much more to life than rowing. I studied, worked, enjoyed friends, was a bike messenger, learnt to play the trumpet and practised every day, did some just-for-fun triathlons and travelled to the jungle of Ecuador for a reforestation project.

Oh, and a bit of rowing as well. We won the first University European Championships in the quad for my university, Hannover. During that year I realised there are so many things you have to give up when you do sport at the Olympic level.

But I also had so much energy again and dreamed of more success in rowing. I was sure that there was still more to achieve. So I started training again at the end of 2005 and enjoyed rowing even more than before. But I am also sure that I will not be a rower for my whole life. The world is too big for just spending energy on moving a boat from one point to another as fast as you can and you can only be successful if you are sure that this, and nothing else, is what you want to do.

WR: How do you balance competing in two events (women’s eight and women’s pair) at the international level?
EH: When we train together on the national team, we always change between the pair and the eight, with different crews. So all of us are good in both boats. And we are compatible. Each one of us with everyone else. Still Nicole (Zimmermann) and me do not have the same rowing style: she is 9cm taller than me and rows quite differently. Since we started rowing together in the pair we paid with much sweat and tears to find a common rhythm.

When we did our first “double start” at Eton, we were quite worried, of course. But on the other hand we thought “if other nations can do it, then we can also”. We have both trained for many years so we are able to recover fast, even after very hard races. Having a race almost every day over eight days means big mental stress. But we use this stress in a positive way and that pushes us forward.

The only thing to worry about during the week of the World Rowing Championships was to eat enough. So we ate huge mountains of pasta and potatoes during any free minute.

WR: What do you attribute your fitness to?
EH: I just train as much as others do and am proud that I still become stronger every year. I always aim to get the perfect rhythm and the feeling for myself, the boat, the crew and the water and make it harmonise. I guess I am just one of the lucky people who sometimes does find the harmony. Also, in my mind, I still keep events like the World Rowing Championships or the Olympic Games as something special for me.

WR: Where are you at present?
EH: We are in St. Moritz, Switzerland. We do cross-country skiing every day (or at least we try to make it look like skiing).

WR: What makes a good stroke person?
EH: A good stroke person is a rower who is brave and has a good feeling for rhythm. He/she must not have any weak moments, either in a race or in training.

WR: Why do you think you are in stroke seat?
EH: This is a question you had better ask our coach. We often change the stroke seat in training. There are other crewmates who are good at the stroke position. When I am sitting there I just give it my best to make the crew trust me and follow me. I think the stroke seat is the easiest position to row in an eight so I am thankful when I can sit there. I feel much less excited and more confident there than in any other position in the boat.

WR: Tell us about your hair.
EH: My dreadlocks are the result of a long training camp in summer 2003. Maja (Tucholke), Britta (Holthaus) and Nicole, my crewmates in the eight, did them. Every evening I sat on a chair with the girls around me working on my hair. At the beginning it looked very weird and I appeared with quite funny hair at the World Rowing Championships in Milan. But since then I have grown to like them and care a lot for them. It is very useful, for instance at regattas, because people recognise me easily. But there are still always some stupid people who think I just smoke marijuana and listen to reggae music. By the way: Yes, I wash them!

WR: What did you do over Christmas and New Year's?
EH: Almost the whole of December was spent at our training centre in Dortmund. But at Christmas I was with my family in Essen. Right after Christmas we went to our training camp in St. Moritz. On New Year’s Eve we celebrated and watched the fireworks on the lake.

WR: What is the rowing plan for January looking like?
EH: The whole crew will stay here in St. Moritz until January 15th. I will leave a week earlier because of my post-university studies in Geographic Information Systems which I will finish soon. At the end of January we will meet again in Dortmund for training. Hopefully there will be no ice so we can row!