the Swiss beaten on the Tour du Léman

The “44West” crew passed very close to a CGN boat, then one of its members fell into the water on Saturday during a Rowing Tour of Lake Geneva contested in terrible conditions .

Rower Christiaan De Lint is 51 years old and has a lot of experience on Lake Geneva, but what he experienced on Saturday had never happened to him before. “The conditions of this race are some of the most extreme I have faced on this lake: there were lots and lots of waves, cool temperatures and almost constant rain. We were soaked from start to finish.”

Reached by telephone Monday morning, this member of the German-speaking “44 West” crew explained to us that his body was badly mistreated. “My hands and back hurt, and I feel very tired,” he whispers, referring to this Tour of Lake Geneva that the organizers had shortened by 20 km (140 instead of 160) due to weather conditions. difficult. A reduction in the route well received by the 18 crews at the start of the race, but which did not prevent Christiaan De Lint and his teammates from having a very complicated day.

The “44 West” crew, made up of five seasoned men (four rowers and a coxswain), very quickly took control of the race, so much so that they arrived in the lead off the coast of Lausanne. The problem is that its passage time coincided with that of a CGN boat. The two boats crossed paths, and it is not difficult to know which of the two would have been more impacted by the collision.

“44 West” was able to continue its march forward, but another threat then hung over the crew after the U-turn in Rivaz: the spectacular comeback of the German crew “eNeRGie BaWü”, “exceptional rowers who “train all year round over long distances and are therefore very hard to beat,” says Christiaan De Lint.

The two teams found themselves side by side just before Morges. There were then only around forty kilometers to go. It is at this moment that “44 West” will experience its second problem of the day, and it will be fatal.

Since the start of the race, the Swiss had decided to waste as little time as possible during crew rotations (the coxswain, installed at the front of the boat, replaces one of the four rowers approximately every 30 minutes). While most of the teams involved stop rowing during a change in the composition of the boat, “44 West” has decided to continue to be active. The coxswain therefore exchanges places with a rower while the others continue their effort, which makes the boat unstable, and the slightest misstep is prohibited.

Everything had gone well until then for the Helvetii, but after 100 kilometers of effort in the rain and in the cold, the lack of lucidity added to the fatigue, and the accident happened. The rower who gave up his place fell and ended up in the water. “We lost several minutes in the story,” relates Christiaan De Lint, specifying that neither he nor his teammates held a grudge against the unfortunate man who fell in combat.

The German boat took the opportunity to escape and “44 West” was never able to catch up. “This incident was a blow to our morale,” admits Christiaan. We tried to catch up with our opponents for a few kilometers, but we had no more strength. We unconsciously lifted our foot, and the gap widened.” The German winners completed their round trip crossing in 10 hours, 55 minutes and 3 seconds, with a lead of 19 minutes and 23 seconds over the Swiss.

“We can say that we lost, or that we finished 2nd out of 18,” puts the rower into perspective, on the subject of a “very long race” which, he adds, “requires us to draw on the depths of our yourself, to reach the limits of your physical capabilities.

A challenge for body and mind, which is a small preview of what Christiaan De Lint’s four teammates will face next year: Mathias, Luca, Laurent and Julien will indeed row across the Atlantic as part of the World’s Toughest Row. They hope to cover the 4,000 kilometers in less than 29 days, 14 hours and 34 minutes, and thus set a new world record. The body of water this time will be large enough not to expose them to a collision with a ship.