Günther Zumkeller is a German

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

who represented West Germany.

Rowing career

Zumkeller is a member of RV Neptun

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

, a rowing club based at Lake Constance near the border with Switzerland. For the 1961 rowing season, he teamed up with Dieter Bender in the coxless pair cause a sensation at their first regatta in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

when they came second, by just 0.1 seconds, to the 1960 Olympic gold medallists in the

coxed pair A coxed pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain. The crew consists of two rowers, each having one oar, and a cox. One row ...

Bernhard Knubel Bernhard Knubel (2 March 1938 – 23 February 1973) was a West German rower who competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Game ...

and

Heinz Renneberg Karl Heinz Renneberg (29 January 1927 – 21 October 1999) was a West German rower who competed in the 1952 and 1960 Summer Olympics. He was born in Gelsenkirchen. In 1952 he and his partner Heinz Eichholz were eliminated in the first round ...

. Later that year, Zumkeller and Bender won the national championships in West Germany. This qualified them for the

1961 European Rowing Championships The 1961 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Vltava (Moldau) in the Czechoslovakian capital Prague. The event for women was held from 18 to 20 August, and 9 countries competed with 32 boats. The event for men was he ...

, where they won a gold medal in this boat class. In 1962, the again won at the national championships. This qualified the pair for the 1962 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne where they won a gold medal in the same boat class. In 1963, Zumkeller and Bender won the national championships for a third time in succession. As the

International Rowing Federation World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (former abbreviation FISA; french: Fédération internationale des sociétés d'aviron), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who ...

(FISA) did not recognise East Germany as a country and insisted on one German team per boat class at international regattas, selection trials had to be held for the 1963 European Rowing Championships. Zumkeller and Bender won their selection trial against

Jörg Lucke Jörg Lucke (born 7 January 1942) is a retired East German rower. He won a bronze medal in the eights at the 1966 World Championships and an Olympic gold medal in the coxless pairs in 1968. After that he competed in the coxed pair A coxed p ...

and Heinz-Jürgen Bothe by just 0.05 seconds. At the 1963 European Championships, Zumkeller and Bender won silver, beaten by the team from Italy. At the 1964 national championships, Zumkeller and Bender came third. The winners of the national championships, Michael Schwan and Wolfgang Hottenrott, went on to become the German representatives in the

coxless pair A coxless pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each having one oar, one on the stroke side (rower's right ...

at the 1964 Summer Olympics in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. Zumkeller and Bender separated after the 1964 nationals, and Zumkeller joined Klaus-Günter Jordan to form a coxed pair. Jordan had previously been national champion in this boat class (1961 to 1963). They concentrated on getting the Olympic nomination for the

United Team of Germany The United Team of Germany (german: Gesamtdeutsche Mannschaft) was a combined team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany that competed in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games. In 1956, the team also included athletes f ...

and did thus not go to the 1964 European Rowing Championships in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. The European champions from Amsterdam were the East Germans

Peter Gorny Peter Gorny (born 20 April 1941) is a retired German rower. He competed for the United Team of Germany at the 1964 Summer Olympics in the coxed pairs and for East Germany at the 1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Ol ...

and

Günter Bergau Günter Bergau (born 11 April 1939) is a retired German rower. He competed for the United Team of Germany at the 1964 Summer Olympics in the coxed pairs and for East Germany at the 1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos ...

, with

Karl-Heinz Danielowski Karl-Heinz Danielowski (born 31 March 1940) is a retired German coxswain. He competed for the United Team of Germany at the 1964 Summer Olympics and for East Germany at the 1968 and 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 � ...

as their cox. In the qualification race, the East Germans were in the lead and the West German team was catching up, but with 200 m to go, Jordan caught a crab. East German media claimed that even without this mishap, the East German team would still have won. In 1966, Zumkeller continued to row with Klaus-Günter Jordan in the coxed pair (the cox that year was Burkhard Zwosta), and they took out the title that year. This qualified them for the

1966 World Rowing Championships The 1966 World Rowing Championships was the second time that world championships in rowing were held. The regatta was held from 8 to 11 September at Lake Bled in Bled, Slovenia, Yugoslavia. There were 613 rowers from 32 countries who competed ...

Bled Bled (; german: Veldes,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper C ...

where they came in sixth place in the final.

Awards

For their 1961 European Championship title, Zumkeller and Bender received the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Laurel Leaf), the highest sports award in Germany. For its centenary in 1985, RV Neptun Konstanz established an honorary membership for those who have made significant contributions to the rowing club. Zumkeller was one of nine members elevated to this status.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zumkeller, Guenther Living people Year of birth missing (living people) West German male rowers World Rowing Championships medalists for Germany Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf European Rowing Championships medalists