6 November 2025
By Göran R Buckhorn
German Olympic rower Günter “Peter” Twiesselmann died on 24 September, aged 100.
At age 15, Günter Twiesselmann joined the Rudergesellschaft Hannover-Linden von 1899 in 1940. The club merged with RV Deutschland in 1947 to form the Deutscher Ruder-Club von 1884 e.V. Hannover (DRC).
Twiesselmann was very successful and became German champion in the coxless four and coxed four during the period 1949 and 1952 with the legendary “Vogeley four”. The other members of the crew were Heinz Beyer, Klaus Schulze, Gerd Vogeley and coxswain Hans-Joachim Wiemken. With the German championships in the coxed four under their belt, the crew were selected to represent Germany in the boat class at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.
At the Games, the crew came in third in the quarterfinal after Switzerland and Argentina and was beaten by Denmark in their repechage heat.
Twiesselmann “rowed actively on the Ihme and Leine rivers until old age, regularly taking part in rowing trips, excursions and social events at the DRC,” Julius Peschel, president of DRD, wrote on the club’s website on 15 August 2025, when Twiesselmann turned 100.
President Peschel also wrote that Twiesselmann had several positions on the boards of the DRC and the Hanover Regatta Association. He was made an honorary member of the club in 1980.
Günter “Peter” Twiesselmann, born 15 August 1925, died 24 September 2025.
GRB: It was Olympic historian Hilary Evans who pointed me in the direction of Günter Twiesselmann’s passing. Hilary wrote that with Twiesselmann’s death there are now probably four Olympic rowers who have reached 100 years. Earlier this year, on 10 January, the French Olympic oarsman Roger Lebranchu died at age 102.
Hear The Boat Sing 
The Swiss team from RC Thalwil was coached by my Father Karl Peyer,member of R C Reuss Luzern. He later became the architect of Lake Rotsee. His Nickname “ Father of the Rotsee”