Since the last summer holidays, 16 Hamburg rowers from three different Hamburg schools (Wilhelm-Gymnasium, Wichern-Schule and Matthias-Claudius-Gymnasium) have been intensively studying the ecology of the rowing waters where they train daily, as part of a European project co-financed by ERASMUS+ and the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ), alongside their school and competitive sports. In Hamburg, these waters include the Alster, its canals, and the Dove Elbe. The project is supported in Hamburg by the AAC/NRB – Hamburg State Rowing Association.

They measure, organize, research, and inform. On June 14, 2023, the results were presented to the 600 participating Hamburg student rowers at Hamburg’s largest school regatta, the state qualification for the national final “Youth Trains for Olympia”. The regatta took place at the boathouse of Ruder-Club Favorite Hammonia.

Three weeks later, the 16 female athletes will go to an international camp on the Côte d’Azur for two weeks. There, the Hamburg participants will meet with young project participants from France and Italy to present their projects to each other, exchange their scientific and ecological findings from the three country groups, and also to do sports together – on water and on land. And, of course, to experience and sustainably shape the European idea at a young age.