Phl rowers eye German coach

The national rowing squad is looking to hire Benedikt Schwarz of Germany to call the shots in future international tournaments, including the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.

National team head coach Ed Maerina revealed that he met the noted German mentor to discuss his possible appointment last year following Joanie Delgaco’s successful stint in the Paris Olympics.

He said everything is now in order and Schwarz is ready to go on board pending the green light from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Should Philippine Rowing Association president Patrick Gregorio get the go-signal from the PSC chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann, Schwarz can start handing the Filipino rowers as early as next month.

“We are hiring a German coach. His application is being processed and we are waiting for the approval of the PSC,” Maerina said, referring to the former national youth mentor of Germany who was in the country last month for the Philippine Indoor Rowing Meet.

“Since he came from Europe, he knows how to balance training skills and strengthening the rowers.”

Right now, the national squad has a foreign coach in Shukhrat Ganiev of Uzbekistan, who is largely responsible for its solid performance that led to the qualification of Cris Nievarez to the Tokyo Olympics and Delgaco to the Paris Games.

The Filipino rowers also had good performance in the 2019 SEA Games in Manila with three gold medals before clinching two silver and six bronze medals in the Hanoi edition of the Games in 2021.

Maerina said with Schwarz on board, they can prepare the rowers well, especially Delgaco, who will regain her conditioning by undergoing basic military training with the Philippine Navy until July.

“I told her to not ignore her endurance. We will try to send a rowing machine there after her Navy training,” Maerina said.

“She will be competing in the lightweight sculls since there is no open weight in the SEA Games. Our deal was she loses weight so that she would only focus on skills when she comes back.”