German Championships and World Cup at Ratscher

A number of changes characterised the 22nd Quadrathlon at Lake Ratscher.
The usual date for the Quadrathlon – the first weekend in September – had to be brought forward to 8 August 2026. The reason for this is that the reservoir is drained at the beginning of September. As the dam is also closed to the public, the entry and exit points for the cycling route were altered and a completely new running route was announced.

The competition formed part of the German Cup, the World Cup and, at the same time, the German Sprint Distance Championships.

– 33 individual entrants and 4 relay teams
– 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre cycle, 4.6-kilometre kayak and then a five-kilometre run

Even before the start, it was clear: this was going to be a test of endurance in the heat.
With an air temperature of 33 degrees and a water temperature of 22.3 degrees, the athletes entered the water without wetsuits.

The newly crowned sprint world champion, Anna-Lena Klee, was the first to emerge from the mountain lake – ahead of the top male competitors – to switch to her bike. She held onto the lead in the women’s race right up to the finish line and was crowned German Champion in the 2026 Quadrathlon Sprint in commanding fashion. The battle for second place remained very tense for a long time. After the swim, Gabi Menke had a lead of just under 2 minutes over Susanne Walter. In the transition zone before the paddling stage, Susanne had a slight lead over Gabi. After posting exactly the same paddling time, they set off on the running course, where Susanne secured the runner-up title with an overall lead of 34 seconds.

In the men’s race, Christian Dürr, the newly crowned sprint world champion, flew past the entire field with the fastest cycling time and extended his lead with the second-fastest paddling time and the fastest running time. Marco Brechenser from Lampertsheim finished second, 6 minutes and 30 seconds behind, ahead of Martin Sykora from the Czech Republic. Lazlo Szabo finished fourth, the third German to cross the line, securing a place on the podium at the German Championships.
As with the middle-distance event, the German Championship in the relay competition was once again won by Team WVC Quadrathlon from Kassel.
After the sporting part of the day, everyone rounded off the glorious summer’s day with a cold drink or two.

by Andreas Hausen

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© Fotos by Lars Rohde

Results

Men

1. Christian Dürr (GER)	1:38:04
2. Marco Brechenser (GER)	1:44:31
3. Martin Sykora (CZE) [World Cup]	1:46:50
3. László Szabó (GER) [German Championships]	1:47:54