Thomas Schneider (rower)
West German rower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Schneider (born 30 March 1932) is a West German rower who represented the United Team of Germany. Together with Gerhard Häge, he won the first European medal for the once dominant rowing nation after World War II.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 30 March 1932 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Gießener RG 1877 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Schneider was born in 1932 and rowed for Gießener RG 1877 in Giessen.[1] Rowing trainer Ludwig Marquardt enticed him to team up with Häge from the Ruderverein "Neptun" in Konstanz.[2][3] The scullers won a regatta in Hanover, a three-nation contest in Klagenfurt, and then the German national championships in Hanover.[3][4] This qualified them for the 1954 European Rowing Championships, held shortly after in Amsterdam, where they won gold in the double sculls.[5] This was the first medal for Germany after the war and was thus the reason for much celebration for the once dominant rowing nation.[2] In December 1954, Häge and Schneider received the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, Germany's highest sports award, from the nation's Chancellor Theodor Heuss.[2][3]
At the 1955 German national championships in Berlin, Schneider and Häge were beaten by Manfred Rulffs and Klaus von Fersen.[5] Schneider then teamed up with Kurt Hipper and competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne with the men's double sculls where they came fourth.[6][1]
