Felix Otto (rower)

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Felix Otto rowing
FelixOtto 2006.png
nation GermanyGermany Germany
birthday June 14, 1983
place of birth Dusseldorf ,  Germany
size 190 cm
Weight 82 kg
Career
discipline Rowing ( belt )
society RTHC Bayer Leverkusen ,
Rowing Club Germania Düsseldorf 1904 ,
TTR08 Ratingen
status resigned
End of career 2008
Medal table
World Cup medals 3 × gold 2 × silver 1 × bronze
EM medals 1 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
National medals 9 × gold 4 × silver 3 × bronze
Last modified: December 20, 2014

Felix Otto (born June 14, 1983 in Düsseldorf ) is a former German rower . He was German champion , world cup winner, overall world cup winner and world champion in rowing with the German national rowing team several times . He achieved his greatest successes as a lightweight rower. From 2008 he started in the open weight class.

Short biography

Ole Rückbrodt and Felix Otto (right)

Life

Felix Otto grew up with his three siblings in Düsseldorf. He attended the Catholic elementary school St. Blasius and then switched to the Görres-Gymnasium in Düsseldorf on Königsallee . After graduating from high school, he began studying medicine at the Ruhr University in Bochum .

Athletic career

Felix Otto was already enthusiastic about sports as a child. At the age of six he joined the Düsseldorf football club Sparta Bilk , which he left at the age of ten. The sporting career went seamlessly into the Rheinische Fechtclub Düsseldorf (RFKD). Here he was a member together with the later and first German fencing Olympic champion, from 2008 in Beijing, Benjamin Kleibrink .

At the age of fifteen Otto joined the Germania Düsseldorf rowing club in 1904 (RCGD). Through his father he came under the supervision of the club trainer Stephan Krajewski, who taught him the beginnings of oar rowing . For this club he also rowed his first and most important successes in rowing. In his first season in 1999, Otto started at the German U17 junior championships in Munich. In the years that followed, numerous titles as German junior champion, German U23 champion and national champion followed. In 2002 Otto and his partner Stephan Mlecko moved to trainer Oliver Kampmeier in Essen. After winning the German U23 championship title in Essen am Baldeneysee in the lightweight four without a helmsman and the lightweight eighth , both were appointed to the German squad of the U23 national rowing team. Otto played his first U23 world championships in Belgrade.

In 2004 and 2005, Otto not only changed coach, but also the rowing team. Under Rita Hendes , he and his partners Ole Rückbrodt , Lutz Ackermann and Joel El-Qalqili were appointed to the German lightweight four without a helmsman in the U23 age group. Here he also rowed at the U23 World Championships of the U23 national rowing team in 2004 in Poznan and in 2005 in Amsterdam. Otto was appointed to the 2008 Beijing team of the city of Düsseldorf in 2004 . This was done by Düsseldorfer Marketing & Tourismus GmbH (DMT), Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf , and the Stadtsportbund. Otto received professional support here.

In 2006 there was a restructuring in the German Rowing Association (DRV) and Brigitte Bielig from Dresden was appointed a head coach in the open lightweight class . After the German Small Boat Championships in Brandenburg in 2006, this group put together a group of six, to which Otto was appointed. He formed this year with his former partner of four Ole Rückbrodt, the lightweight - coxless pair . The two rowed their first season in the open lightweight class and contested the first World Cup races in Munich, Poznan and Lucerne. With the victory of the World Cup in Lucerne am Rotsee , the two were nominated for the rowing world championships in Eton . Here Otto and his partner became the first German world champion in the lightweight two-man without a helmsman.

At the end of 2006 Otto moved to the rowing base in Dortmund in order to combine the proximity to the university and the national coaches. He continued to train under the supervision of national coach Dieter Grahn and base coach Christian Viedt. In spring 2007 there was another restructuring in the lightweight area of ​​the DRV. Uwe Bender has now been appointed head coach of the lightweights. Otto's training location is moving again, this time to Saarbrücken. Otto was the only one of his old U23 four-man to be appointed to the new group of six. Here he trained with the later vice world champions from 2007 and the world champions from 2009, the twins Martin and Jochen Kühner , in a training group at the Saarbrücken Olympic base .

The season got off to a moderate start with his new two-man partner and the first World Cup in Linz ended with a tenth place in a two-man under expectations. The team was able to improve their form and ended up in third place at the last World Cup in Lucerne. With this test, Otto and his two-man partner were appointed to the TOP-Team-Beijing-2008 and appointed to the tribe of the lightweight four-man without a helmsman, as they lagged behind the competition in Lucerne. At the 2007 World Championships in Munich, Otto's four-man finally missed qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing because he had to be canceled due to illness.

In order to row a ticket for the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing in 2008, Otto prepared with an extended group for the Olympic qualification regatta in Lucerne, where a final place in the easy four was awarded. After a few selection measures, Otto was re-accepted into the circle of six. At this point in time, the DRV was undergoing an enormous restructuring , especially in the field of competitive sports. The national coach was dismissed after disputes. There were big discussions and just a few weeks before the Olympics, the head coach and the sports team were renamed. Here Otto pulled the emergency brake and wrote a letter to the responsible trainer with the request "to dismiss Otto from the select group, because Otto no longer wants to go to the Olympics with this constellation" . The chances of a successful performance were apparently too low. "But he is still available" . The scandalous last place of the Germany eight and the fact that the men's belt area had not won a single medal at the games in Beijing prompted the DRV to set up a new coaching staff and to fire the sports director , who after the botched races in one Interview on public television showed a lack of reflection on the facts. After these decisions, Otto decided to end his professional career.

He decided at short notice with his old two-man partner Ole Rückbrodt to end the season with other international regattas. Otto also decided to no longer drive in the lightweight category, but instead started in the open weight class. The two started at the Henley Royal Regatta , reached the final unexpectedly and were only barely defeated by the Olympic third in the men's two without helmsman from South Africa . They also brought the season to an end with a second place in the student world championships in Belgrade, which was only subsequently awarded, as the first-placed doping players were convicted and Otto and his partner moved up from third to second place.

Sports activities afterwards

Since Otto continued to be active in sports, at the end of 2008 he moved to the team camp of coach Ralf Müller at the Fühlinger See in Cologne, to the club RTHC Bayer Leverkusen .

In 2009, a new rowing concept was launched in Germany with the Ruder-Bundesliga (RBL). For this, Otto put together a suitable team of eight with his brother Moritz Otto , Olympic champion Stephan Volkert , world champion Stephan Koltzk , world champion Thorsten Engelmann and his club mates: the RTHC-Bayer-Leverkusen- Pred8oars (Predators = predators; 8 = eight men; oars = English for belt). With Otto as batsman , the team made it into the 1st rowing league as the fifth boat. Here they rowed some podium places. Otto also won the “8 Sprint Düsseldorf” with the Pred8oars in the Düsseldorf Medienhafen , where the best national and international teams compete against each other in a knockout system , and secured the prize money. Otto also took second place in the Cologne city eight during the Cologne Lights , which was broadcast on WDR.

The following year, Otto remained loyal to the Pred8oars and also dedicated himself to German university sports . Together with his brother, he won the German University Championships in all men's oarring boat classes, the two men without a helmsman, the four men without a helmsman and the eight men with a helmsman. As a result, he was again nominated for the student world championships in Szeged , but this time in a four-man without a helmsman, and with his brother in a two-man without for the European student championships in Amsterdam (Netherlands). Otto and his brother set a new student European record in the final on his birthday. With the Pred8oars the title in the "8er Sprint Düsseldorf" could be defended. With the Pred8oars at the Cologne Lights 2010, Otto brought the award back to Leverkusen after a long time.

Awards and honors

Felix Otto was awarded the State Sports Medal of Honor in 2006 by the State Sports Association of North Rhine-Westphalia for his gold medal at the World Championships in Eton. The then Minister of the Interior Ingo Wolff personally presented the medal in Otto's home club. The city of Dortmund awarded Otto the Dortmund Ring of Honor in 2006 because he was part of the Dortmund base during this time. Otto was also honored several times by the mayor of the city of Düsseldorf, among others Joachim Erwin , in the town hall in the form of a sportsman honor.

Current

Otto currently lives with his partner in Düsseldorf.

Sporting successes

World championships

U23 world championships

  • Third in the lightweight four without a helmsman 2003 Belgrade
  • Winner in the lightweight four without a helmsman 2004 Poznań
  • Winner in the lightweight four without a helmsman 2005 Amsterdam

Rowing World Cup

  • Winner in the lightweight two-man 2006 Munich
  • Winner in the lightweight two-man 2006 Lucerne
  • Second in the lightweight two-piece 2006 Poznań
  • Third in the lightweight two-man 2007 Lucerne

German championships

  • Third German U19 Championship 2000 Brandenburg
  • First German U19 championships (lightweight foursome; lightweight eighth) 2001 Brandenburg
  • First German U23 championships in the lightweight eighth in 2002 Essen
  • Second German U23 championships in the lightweight foursome 2002 Essen
  • First German U23 championships in the lightweight foursome 2003 Brandenburg
  • Second German U23 championships in lightweight two-man 2003 Brandenburg
  • First German U23 championships (lightweight four-man; lightweight eight-man) 2004 Essen
  • Second German championship rowing (lightweight foursome; lightweight eighth) 2004 Berlin
  • First German U23 championships (lightweight four-man; lightweight eight-man) 2005 Duisburg
  • Third German championship rowing lightweight two-man 2006 Brandenburg
  • First German championship rowing quadruple scull 2009 Essen
  • Third German Spinting Championships eighth 2009 Cologne

Student World Championships

  • Second student world championships in two-man 2008 Belgrade
  • Second student world championships in foursome 2010 Szeged

European Student Championships

  • First European student championships in twos 2010 Amsterdam

Rowing Bundesliga

  • Third AVL event in Ratzeburg 2009
  • Second AVL event in Hanover 2009
  • First AVL event Krefeld 2009

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Otto, Felix
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German world champion in rowing
DATE OF BIRTH June 14, 1983
PLACE OF BIRTH Dusseldorf