Welcome Aboard

OSPREY — No matter how hard he trained, Andreas Leichtfuss couldn’t control the inevitable. 

He wasn’t going to make the cut. 

A local hero in his own right, the German teenager had reached the pinnacle of his success. 

It wasn’t for a lack of trying; the standards were simply too high. 

As he came to grips with the realization that he wouldn’t be part of the German National Team, Leichtfuss looked to the future, specifically a younger generation of rowers who would be vying for their own national fame. 

“It made me ambitious,” Leichtfuss says. “I wanted to stay in rowing, and if it couldn’t be as a competitor, then it would be as a coach. That was my motivation.

Leichtfuss began coaching in 1983 at the Academy of Sports in Berlin, and after a 32-year international career spanning three continents, Leichtfuss is now bringing his experience to the Gulf Coast. 

He arrived in Sarasota two weeks ago to assume his new position as the Sarasota Scullers’ program director and head coach. 

Leichtfuss is just the third coach in the organization’s 25-year history. 

“This is the first time we’ve been in a position to be able to bring the next generation of head coaches to Sarasota,” Scullers President Rita Ferrandino says. “In the country, Sarasota is seen as the leader in rowing, and we wanted to bring to the program an international talent."

A native of East Berlin, Germany, Leichtfuss began rowing at a small club when he was 14. He had no experience with water sports, but he saw an ad for the club in the local newspaper and decided to give the new sport a try. 

“It caught my attention from the first moment,” Leichtfuss says. “There was a good atmosphere between the coaches and the rowers because we were all beginners to some extent.” 

Leichtfuss continued to row through high school, winning several local regattas along the way. 

But no matter how many regattas he won, there was one area that Leichtfuss still couldn’t master — his frame. Leichtfuss, who was relatively tall, fluctuated between lightweight and heavyweight rowing status. 

Although he never quite reached 190 centimeters (6 feet, 2 inches) and 85 to 90 kilograms (187 to 198 pounds), the optimum height and weight for German National Team rowers. 

“I was a local hero, but unfortunately it didn’t happen that I was selected for the national team,” Leichtfuss says. “Rowing was a famous sport in Germany at the time. We were trying to beat the Western countries, so it was very hard to make it.” 

Leichtfuss landed his first coaching position in 1983 and spent the next six years coaching 14-year-old boys at the Academy of Sports. 

He went on to coach programs across Europe and Asia, including national teams in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Iraq and Korea. 

“Coaching is a profession that you create a certain feeling for the rower and they are well supported in every direction,” Leichtfuss says. 

It was while coaching the Dutch National Team for the World Championships in 1994 that Leichtfuss first set foot on American soil. He was enamored by the country’s hospitality. 

“In my heart and brain, I knew I wanted to come back,” Leichtfuss says. “It’s a beautiful country.” 

In 2010, Leichtfuss began managing the IOC Olympic Development Camps in Asia and Africa on behalf of the World Rowing Federation. He also has worked as a FISA expert and lecturer in Kuwait, Pakistan, Iraq and Mynamar, among other countries. 

In 2013, Leichtfuss spent a year coaching South Korea in preparation for the Asian Games. Most recently, he coached in New Zealand. 

As the Scullers’ program director and head coach, Leichtfuss hopes to educate rowers on the sport itself while putting them in a position to be successful.

“We believe rowing is more than a sport,” Leichtfuss says. “It’s a kind of way of life. There’s a strong focus on program development and performance, so that at the end of their careers, they are able to achieve victories.” 

Leichtfuss has coached rowers of all ages and skill levels, but he admits junior rowers, ages 14 to 18, are the players on whom a coach can have the most impact. 

Leichtfuss has approximately 90 kids enrolled in the Scullers program, which includes middle school and high school. 

Leichtfuss already has began working with rowers, who train six days a week, in preparation for the team’s first regatta Oct. 10, at Nathan Benderson Park. 

“It’s easy to pick out super talented kids,” Leichtfuss says. “The challenge is to bring success to the majority of the other ones. They have the potential, but you have to bring it out of them. It’s the perfect challenge for me.” 

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].