Translation: Fabian Dörfler | Source and photos: Kanu-Slalom Team Deutschland - Michael Trummer has been head coach of Germany’s canoe slalom team for four years by now. Attaining one Olympic silver and bronze medal each, with Sideris Tasiadis and Hannes Aigner respectively, his paddle artists hit their target exactly. 44-year-old Michael Trummer talks about his new goals as he’s hitting the new quadrennial with all of his coaches, technicians and athletes.

Two medals in London plus a very successful European championship at home in Augsburg - the Olympic season has been a very pleasant one for German slalom paddlers. How satisfied are you with your first Olympic cycle as a head coach?

Eventually it has all paid off, all the work of the last four years which has often been hard and rarely easy. We can be proud of our results in the Olympic season. Considering our results at competitions in the previous years, in between the Games, when we had to cope with a lot of critisism I’m very happy with how 2012 turned out. We have managed to form a very successfull and harmonic team within the last four years. The performance of our athletes has been top level all the way. Unfortunately, during that period only very few athletes have had the opportunity to take advantage of structures and conditions that are necessary for training and competing professionally.

Marcus Becker and Stefan Henze - a very successfull C2 team for many years - have already announced the end of their sporting career in May 2012. Have there been any further changes in your team after the Olympics?

Ending their career has been a very difficult situation for Marcus and Stefan last year but their decision has been totally coherent. I’m glad to see both of them are still within the canoeing family. Both have graduated their Master’s degree in sports science to be coaches and they’re willing to hand on their experience to the younger generation. We’ve already set the course for the new Olympic cycle last year. We’ve talked to our athletes individually and reviewed their prospects. Thus everyone has been very motivated to start training again. Looking at our regulars there hasn’t been anyone quitting.

In winter we’ve got a request of the Italian federation. Stefanie Horn - one of our successfull athletes as a junior and under-23 - has asked for the start authorization for Italy and she’s been granted her authorization. Furthermore we’ve integrated several young athletes in the federation’s development program. The athletes keep looking for the best possible conditions for themselves. The C2 crew Kai and Kevin Müller have taken the opportunity switch their club for the new year. They’ll now be competing nationally for BSV Halle.

There’s going to be someone new within the coaches, too...

We haven’t managed to keep four permanent coaches for the Olympic disciplines. David Krajnik has not prolonged his contract for private reasons. Thus we are missing one coach for the new season. Having talked to our top athletes and some possible candidates we have decided not to occupy the vacant position immediately. For the year after the Olympics we’re going to see the K1 women working with an assistant coach. Stefan Henze has been in charge of the daily training since January while national coach Thomas Apel is monitoring this transition period. Having graduated his degree Stefan Henze will still be employed by the German armed forces until 2014 as part of the army’s job integration program. I believe this is a great chance for Stefan and our ladies as well. The K1 women will be able to continuously work with one coach. Further decisions will be made after the World’s in Prague. All other coaches and persons in support who have been very successfull in previous years will still be on board for 2013.

After the Games is before the Games - which goals have you defined for the new quadrennial?

I’d like to see the established system of coaching, organization and supporting our athletes being strenghtened. I believe this is the basis for steadily performing at an international top level. We have shown that we’ve got a wide base during the last four years. So the next step is to prove we can always be amongst the best and on the podium. We know about the difficulty of this task so we’ll be taking every effort to reach our goal. We’re ought to consolidate our position as one of the strongest nations in the post-olympic season already. Personally, I want to keep on working towards improving the financial support of our sport. Until now financial issues are still forcing us to compromise our planning which for sure isn’t affecting the sporting performance in a positive way.

What’s the role of 2013 in your long-term planning?

Our main goal will be sending many athletes to a greater number of international competitions to give our athletes more race experience. Our team will be competing in several world ranking events, all of the five world cups and of course in the European and World Championships. Additionally there will be national competitions. This year’s schedule is very well packed. The large number of races will be giving great opportunities to score top results and build confidence for the new Olympic cycle.

The venues of Krakow and Prague are said to be rather easy. Will this affect your preparation?

Certainly Krakow and Prague don’t offer whitewater of the same level as the most recent Olympic venues. Still there are good possibilities the create interesting and challenging features by setting a difficult course. So the preparation of those two races won’t differ to the preparation of other championships in general. We are planning two main training camps in Prague. As Prague is rather close we will add some short training camps with smaller groups to meet individual needs as well.

How do you see the development of the international competition during the last four years?

It’s obvious that the level has increased in general and that the top athletes have even come closer than before. Athletes have to take greater risks to score a medal. Nevertheless there are still possibilities of optimizing the training process as well as some surroundings that are directly affecting competitive performance. We will keep working focused to be competitive or to outperform our competition respectively.

The teams for 2013 will be selected in Markkleeberg and Augsburg. Which is the selection format this year?

After experimenting with our selection mode in 2009 we have sticked to the current system since 2010 as we reckon it is serving us very well. Regarding international races the current selection format with A-final and B-final as well as points has proven to be a good choice. Thus there won’t be any changes to the system in 2013. The only difference to last year will be that all the national teams - seniors, under-23s and juniors - will be selected at the same event. This bears the possibility to compare our youngsters with today’s elite athletes.

[NOTE Sportscene, this interview was conducted before the international races in Markkleeberg] The race in Markkleeberg at the Easter weekend was the last real test before selections,  though there will be world ranking points to attain and defend against strong international competition...

The start lists are packed with international elite athletes in all categories, so there will be a good chance to compare the outcome of the last winter’s training. On the other hand it’s neccesary bare in mind the main international season won’t start before the Euro’s in June and it will be stretching to the World’s in September. Many people won’t be in top form by now. Nevertheless it is going to be an important race for our German ahtletes considering preparation of the national selection. Looking at the current weather conditions it will be difficult to perform very well. Right now I’d say the most important point for me is that all the athletes stay healthy and won’t risk illness and injury during their training camp and competition in Markkleeberg.