Portrait

I was born on 20 June 1990 in Basel during a summer thunderstorm. And looking back, I ask myself whether that Wednesday I was given exactly the energy by thunder and lightning that carries me through life, through the training sessions and over the waters today.

JEANNINE - THE PORTRAIT

At first, however, there was nothing to indicate this. Perhaps because there was no lake to be seen, no body of water. And it wasn't sport that was the big thing in our family, but music. But when we moved to the Zurich Oberland, water became my element. For my brother Valentin and my sister Angelina, the Greifensee became our centre. No matter if it was summer or winter, sunshine or storm. Frolicking, fishing, walking, picnicking... whatever. The lake was our home. At the same time as I started school, my youngest brother Dimitri was born.

JEANNINE - THE PORTRAIT

In my first years at school I played the violin - but I never found my passion in it. Together with Valentin, I practised various sporting hobbies. Climbing, horse riding... and - third time's the charm - rowing. For me, it was not love at first sight. But the closeness to nature, to water, made me merciful and gave me patience and stamina. And finally I discovered my true passion. In addition, in the Uster rowing club I found exactly that reality, that dynamism, which always characterised my family life. We didn't have much, and nothing was taken for granted, and yet we wanted for nothing. This mentality of "do what you can with what you have" has become deeply anchored in me. And I am infinitely grateful to my parents and also to the Uster rowing club for the fact that my nature, my actions are shaped by it.

JEANNINE - THE PORTRAIT

Because of the lack of a "Gspändli", the only boat class I had left was the single. After my first outing, I thought I would never get into this narrow thing again. Today I am glad that I did. The successes at national junior level came quickly. I was never a great talent, and it was never made a secret of the fact that I didn't have the physical prerequisites for a successful career in rowing. But that's just it: Do what you can with what you have! That's exactly what I did. And I still do it today. Every day. As far as my professional orientation was concerned, it quickly became clear to me that I needed a solution that could be easily combined with my large training workload. With the commercial training at the Zollikerberg crèche, I found an employer who offered me the necessary flexibility and support to complete a solid basic training and then later take the decisive step from semi-professional to professional sport.

JEANNINE - THE PORTRAIT

The starting signal for the professional sports chapter came with the top sports recruit school in autumn 2014. These 18 weeks in the army gave me the opportunity to concentrate 100% on the sport and a firm decision matured in me to pursue the sport with absolute dedication.
I won the overall World Cup, became European Champion, World Champion and achieved two 5th places at the Olympic Games. But far more important: I have always developed as a person and an athlete. Even after 20 years of rowing and 10 years of professional sport, my inner fire burns for everything that rowing has to offer and what makes it tick.

I was born on 20 June 1990 in Basel during a summer thunderstorm. And looking back, I ask myself whether that Wednesday I was given exactly the energy by thunder and lightning that carries me through life, through the training sessions and over the waters today.

JEANNINE - THE PORTRAIT

At first, however, there was nothing to indicate this. Perhaps because there was no lake to be seen, no body of water. And it wasn't sport that was the big thing in our family, but music. But when we moved to the Zurich Oberland, water became my element. For my brother Valentin and my sister Angelina, the Greifensee became our centre. No matter if it was summer or winter, sunshine or storm. Frolicking, fishing, walking, picnicking... Whatever. The lake was our home. At the same time as I started school, my youngest brother Dimitri was born.

JEANNINE - THE PORTRAIT

My rowing world

Pure adrenaline

1/10

Question

Jeannine Gmelin, you will be 32 this year and after the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 you decided to add three more years to your career, i.e. to continue until the next Olympic Games in Paris 2024. How clear was this decision, and what tipped the scales?

Answer JG

Considering that I was very undecided about the continuation of my career in the last few months before the Olympic Games, it was very clear to me after my final race in Tokyo that my path in rowing is not yet over. On the one hand, because I felt a great inner satisfaction about my performance and, on the other hand, because I still feel a great deal of passion for the lifestyle to which one dedicates oneself as a top athlete in a marginal sport.

2/10

Question

Rowing is - similar to boxing - a sport that requires a very high level of fitness. You do daily sessions in the weight room and/or on the lake. What other "disciplines" provide variety in your training programme?

Answer JG

In summer the racing bike, in winter the touring and cross-country skis. In the Obwalden mountains and in Andermatt.

3/10

Question

We know you live and burn for your sport. When you're not doing sports, you like to meet friends and family. How do you manage to keep your iron discipline in such cosy moments? Especially when it comes to going out, parties and celebrations?

Answer JG

I was and am absolutely not a party-goer, and partying exuberantly doesn't suit me. So in a way, it suits me. But generally speaking, for me it's not a decision to do without, but a decision for a big goal. I'm happy to accept the consequences, of which I'm well aware in advance.

4/10

Question

Rowing is becoming more and more popular, but it is still considered a marginal sport in Switzerland. If it were a wishful thinking, what do you think the federation and organisations such as Swiss Olympic should do to bring your sport closer to a broader public and to young people?

Answer JG

This is where the world rowing federation, FISA, is especially challenged. By using new technologies such as VR (virtual reality), sports enthusiasts should be able to be taken on a journey into the sport and behind the scenes. As far as Switzerland is concerned, it's just that school sport doesn't really enjoy a high status and there are hardly any schools that have access to a rowing club. This also brings us to the highest hurdle for our sport: proximity to a suitable body of water and a rowing club that can provide infrastructure and equipment is essential and already limits it from the outset.

5/10

Question

What many people don't know is that top athletes in Switzerland often have to take care of organisation, travel, equipment and the procurement of financial resources themselves or in a small team so that they can practice their sport at the highest level. How much of a burden is this ever-present issue for you, and how much of your time and energy does the administrative part now take up?

Answer JG

My great privilege is to have a fantastic team behind me that actively supports me so that I can concentrate on my core task. However, I like the administrative, organisational and logistical part and also see it as a chance to broaden my horizons and learn new things. That's why I always lend a hand whenever possible and have found an ideal balance for myself.

6/10

Question

If you watch a regatta on TV, you get the impression that rowing is easy: firstly, it's always straight ahead, and secondly, there are only two movements, forwards and backwards. The winner is the one who has the most strength and endurance. What do you say to someone who thinks that? To what extent, for example, are tactics part of a race?

Answer JG

Every sport - at least when you watch the best - looks easy. And that's exactly how it should be. The movement sequence in rowing is relatively complex. Forwards and backwards is already the basis, but the body does one thing and the oars go in the opposite direction at the same time. At least at the beginning, this is a purely cognitive challenge. Then there is the timing of the movements, which has to be very precise, and the balance, which is another challenge. The simple thing about rowing is that it's all about getting from the start to the finish as quickly as possible. But that is the case in many sports. In ski racing, in cross-country skiing, in cycling races and also in certain disciplines in athletics. Tactics can play a role, but they are not the deciding factor.

7/10

Question

There is a photo from the training camp in Japan showing your hands with fourteen (!) huge blisters. A sight that cries out for "two weeks of recovery". What happened there?

Answer JG

The climate in Japan was very humid and warm. What you saw in the photo was my cornea, softened by rain and sweat. It hardly ever happens that I have blisters any more because a protective layer of cornea has formed on the inner surfaces of my hands.

8/10

Question

Let's put ourselves in a moment of an important race: You started badly, caught up and were leading after three quarters of the distance, i.e. after 1500 metres. Your strength decreases, 200 metres before the finish you are overtaken by two competitors. How can you motivate yourself mentally in such moments not to just give up?

Answer JG

This scenario sounds like a badly timed race. I always try to put a race or a result into perspective, and the most important question is: Was I able to perform optimally? This question focuses on the process and not on the outcome, i.e. my final placing, because the latter depends on factors that I cannot influence.

9/10

Question

As if your life wasn't already intense enough: since this year you are also involved as an athlete representative on the Executive Board of Swiss Olympic. How did that come about?

Answer JG

I have been a member of the Swiss Olympic Athletes' Commission for almost two years. When I was asked to be involved at the highest level as an athlete representative on the Executive Board of Swiss Olympic, it was clear to me that I wanted to accept this challenge. Being able to contribute my experience and ideas to the further development of the Swiss sporting world is primarily not an expense, but an honour and also a sign of confidence in me as an athlete and a person.

10/10

Question

Do you have plans for the time after your sporting career?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Answer JG

To talk about real plans would be a bit premature. I have various ideas and am open to different options. Especially because my areas of interest are relatively broad. Finding passion and heart and soul in a task is my priority. Everything else will come. Life always turns out differently than you planned anyway.

The start

2000 metres of pure adrenaline

2000 metres, just under seven and a half minutes. Perceived from the shore as an elegant glide in a single. For me, it means 250 strokes of full concentration and power that take me to the limit of what I can bear. When the start light changes from red to green, it's just me and my boat.

2000 metres of pure adrenaline

The first quarter of the course - maximum pulse: 200 beats per minute - the lungs are burning, lactate pain - like pricking needles - sets in. The voice that wants to tempt me to give in to the pain gets louder and louder inside me. I have to block it out - drive the boat stroke by stroke towards the finish. Focus on the moment, on my breath. 70% leg work, 20% torso work, 10% arm work. The end is approaching and the stroke rate now increases from just over 30 to almost 40 strokes per minute. Then. . . .

The first 1000 metres - half-time

2000 metres and at the finish

2000 metres of pure adrenaline

. . . the liberating target horn. At first paralysed by pain, it takes me a few minutes to regain my senses and move at all. Rowing was once a hobby, then a passion, and now it's my profession.

Growing up with my three siblings in Uster, the town on the water in the Zurich Oberland, the Greifensee was my second home. Today, my home is wherever I can experience that indescribably light feeling of gliding across the water.

2000 metres of pure adrenaline

The search for the perfect stroke is endless. It drives me, you could almost say I'm obsessed with it. The interplay of endurance, strength, technique and mental skills is unique for me and is what makes this sport so fascinating: Waiting in the starting blocks for the "Attention - go", the tension that surrounds me, knowing the many pains I am about to go into. The curiosity to see how well I will manage to call off my race plan from the first to the last beat. And then, right before the starting gun, the great gratitude of being able to show what I work hard for every day, with a lot of passion and without compromise. The road to the top is challenging. Indispensable at all levels: Commitment, heart and soul and iron will. Inevitable: Ups and downs. But the long-term goal is clear: a medal at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

"Attention go" - Goal: Paris 2024

More Jeannine

Does Jeannine prefer impressive mountains or a romantic sandy beach? Does her heart beat for physics or is she more the maths type? Find out!

Coffee
or
Tea?

Coffee

Mountains
or
Beach?

Mountains

Dog
or
Cat?

Dog

High Heels
or
Sneakers?

Sneakers

Sweating
or
Freezing?

Sweating

Comedy
or
Thriller?

Thriller

Order
or
Chaos?

Order

Maths
or
Physics?

neither
nor

Water with
or
without?

Silent

Head
or
Heart?

Heart

Have everything
or
know everything?

know everything

Lake
or
River?

See

Potatoes
or
Rice?

Rice

Vacuum
or rinse
?

Washing dishes

Muesli
or
Lunch?

Muesli

Glacé
or
cake?

Glacé

Summer
or
Winter?

all
year
times

Nutella with
or
without butter?

natural
with
butter

Swiss Olympic

I have been a member of the Athletes' Commission of Swiss Olympic since May 2019 and Co-President since 2022. The ten members of the Athletes' Commission are athletes from Swiss Olympicmember federations.

Themajority of the votes belong to representatives of Olympic federations. One guaranteed seat also belongs to a representative of a sports association for people with disabilities.

The main tasks of the Athletes' Commission are:

To address the challenges and tasks of athletes and to develop solutions or projects for them.
To represent the interests of athletes at the highest level vis-à-vis Swiss Olympic, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the European Olympic Committee (EOC), Swiss sport in general and the public. It also acts as a mediator and applicant.
To provide support for concerns at athlete level that go beyond their own federation or cannot be solved by their own federation. The core topics we deal with in the commission are anti-doping, ethics, finances, elite sport and studies, women and elite sport.

The Sports Parliament - the highest body of Swiss Olympic - has elected me as one of two athlete representatives to the Executive Council of Swiss Olympic as of January 2022. In this governing body of Swiss Olympic, I can participate in the consultation and decision-making processes in Swiss sport.

The Executive Council prepares the decisions of the Sports Parliament, ensures their implementation and represents Swiss Olympic externally. The Sports Parliament decides on the individual items of business.

The core task of the Executive Council is to:

To set out the medium and long-term strategy of Swiss Olympic
To define the organisational structure and areas of work of Swiss Olympic.
To appoint the leadership team for the Swiss delegation to the Olympic Games

In both functions - in the Athletes' Commission and in the Executive Council - I would like to contribute my experience from almost twenty years of rowing - ten of them in professional sport - in order to further develop the world of Swiss sport. Because the athlete's voice, the athlete's view - in short: the athlete's well-being is the highest good of the sports associations and of Swiss Olympic. My vision as an athlete representative is to put the athletes as a whole more at the centre of the actions of all those involved.

What does Swiss Olympic actually do?

Resignation

My retirement from competitive sports

My retirement from competitive sports, January 2023 (1.2 MB)

Portrait

I was born on 20 June 1990 in Basel during a summer thunderstorm. And looking back, I ask myself whether that Wednesday I was given exactly the energy by thunder and lightning that carries me through life, through the training sessions and over the waters today.

I was born on 20 June 1990 in Basel during a summer thunderstorm. And looking back, I ask myself whether that Wednesday I was given exactly the energy by thunder and lightning that carries me through life, through the training sessions and over the waters today.

My rowing world

Pure adrenaline

More FREE! Copy & Paste Components at Digital Bake

Jeannine Gmelin, you will be 32 this year and after the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 you decided to add three more years to your career, i.e. to continue until the next Olympic Games in Paris 2024. How clear was this decision, and what tipped the scales?

Rowing is - similar to boxing - a sport that requires a very high level of fitness. You do daily sessions in the weight room and/or on the lake. What other "disciplines" provide variety in your training programme?

We know you live and burn for your sport. When you're not doing sports, you like to meet friends and family. How do you manage to keep your iron discipline in such cosy moments? Especially when it comes to going out, parties and celebrations?

Rowing is becoming more and more popular, but it is still considered a marginal sport in Switzerland. If it were a wishful thinking, what do you think the federation and organisations such as Swiss Olympic should do to bring your sport closer to a broader public and to young people?

There is a photo from the training camp in Japan showing your hands with fourteen (!) huge blisters. A sight that cries out for "two weeks of recovery". What happened there?

As if your life wasn't already intense enough: since this year you are also involved as an athlete representative on the Executive Board of Swiss Olympic. How did that come about?

Do you have plans for the time after your sporting career? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

More Jeannine

Does Jeannine prefer impressive mountains or a romantic sandy beach? Does her heart beat for physics or is she more the maths type? Find out!

Swiss Olympic

Resignation

Do you have plans for the time after your sporting career?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?