Rowing against cancer 2023

On September 3, 2023, the charity regatta "Rowing against Cancer" took place for the 13th time on Hamburg's Outer Alster Lake and saw a record participation this year with 104 teams taking part. The regatta is organized by the "Living with Cancer" foundation together with the Hubertus Wald Tumor Center at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. The foundation promotes therapy-supporting projects of a sporting and cultural nature, as current studies show that these can reduce the stress caused by illness and therapy in people affected by cancer and thus have a positive effect on the course of the disease.

The huge field of participants at this year's event included a who's who of Hamburg's healthcare sector, with the participants' rowing experience ranging from complete beginners to experts.

Thanks to the initiative of Martin Kern, who is a member of the organizing rowing club RG Hansa e.V., Dr. Weigert also took part with a boat for the first time. With one exception, the crew of the Dr. Weigert double four consisted of complete rowing novices. So it was no easy task to turn this group into a competitive rowing team in just three evening training sessions. However, with a lot of patience and clear instructions, Martin Kern managed to teach his team the necessary rowing basics despite the very limited preparation time.

On the day of the competition, the good preparation paid off: in the first heat, the Dr. Weigert foursome crossed the finish line of the 250 m regatta course on five lanes in second place and, with a time of 1:17 min, immediately earned a place in the final of the "Expert" performance class. Although there were a few technical challenges to overcome in the final race, the final ranking was impressive: Team Weigert finished in 25th place out of the 104 participating boats.

A successful debut for the rowers from Dr. Weigert and also a contribution to a good cause, as part of the entry fee goes towards supporting regional therapy-supporting services for cancer patients.

Participation in "Rowing against Cancer" 2024 is therefore already firmly planned. If there are enough interested parties, perhaps two or three boats could even be at the start for Dr. Weigert.