Sports legends of the decade: Finn Koons of Göttingen is a German multi-champion
He’s a German multi-year champion, swimming in the Federal Junior Team and soon to be awarded a sports scholarship in the United States: TWG 1861 Göttingen’s Finn Kunz is on his way to the top of German swimming. Therefore, the 19-year-old has been nominated for our new series Sports Legends of the Decade.
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“It’s always felt like that,” answers Koons when asked how long he’s been swimming. He doesn’t know exactly when he first got into the pool. For as long as he can remember, sports have been an important part of his life.
At TWG 1861 Göttingen has developed into a promising young swimmer in recent years, never leaving the competition without a place on the podium and without a medal around his neck. Koons has been swimming in the Federal Junior Division for several years.
Three German titles of the year over 200 metres
The 19-year-old’s greatest career successes to date are the three German championship titles over 200m chest, 200m backyard and 200m medley. Due to his age, Kunze is no longer allowed to compete in year-old tournaments, but will only have to face competition in the open rankings in the future. But for him, this is not a change: “I’ve been competing in the German Open since I was 13, in other words in the men’s category. So that doesn’t change that much for me.”
Despite the great success in his younger years, Konzi does not feel any particular pressure to always have to improve. “I am good at evaluating how good I am and what I can achieve. That way I don’t put any pressure on myself.” However, the stakes are high so he can keep up with that level.
Tageblatt searches for Göttingen’s sporting legends of the decade
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Some weeks, Konzi invests up to 30 hours in his sport. Up to ten units in the water is on the plan, plus strength training. He has been dealing with this business for several years. He had no feeling that he had missed out on something as a result. “It’s been all worth it for me so far,” Konzi asserts.
And all this training is paying off. Not only in the form of championship titles, but now also in the form of a sports scholarship. At the end of August, the 19-year-old, who graduated from Felix Klein High School last spring, will travel to the United States and will study for four years at a university in West Palm Beach, Florida, half an hour north of Miami – and swim, swim Much.
These athletes and teams are available to choose
sports
- Neil Eckhart Nowak (German triple jump champion)
- Hannah Buch (German Champion in the Singles Small Time Test)
- Jasmine Putman (Multiple World Champion in Mini Golf)
- Tony Lenz (victory at the World Games with the National Boat Polo Team)
- Fiona Siber (German Chess Masters/Chess winner)
- Angelina Fucherpfenig (German Champion in Air Rifle / Target Shooting Class)
- Bert Kressdorf (long-distance swimmer, crosses the English Channel)
- Pauline Bremer (national footballer, two-time Champions League winner)
- Jennifer Crowder (basketball player, Bundesliga player, and “keeper of the year”)
- Barbara von Inde (many great German tennis champions)
Athlete
- Tobias Buck Gramkow (world record junior cyclist champion)
- Rolf Geese (M75 age group decathlon world record)
- Lars Budd (Dragon Boat World Champion)
- Ansgar Knauf (professional for German football club Borussia Dortmund)
- Aaron Duncore (Linebacker in der NFL bei den Seattle Seahawks)
- Florian Reichert (Serial Winner of Göttingen Old Town Run)
- Robert Kolawek (Eurochallenge winner with BG Göttingen and fan favorite)
- Finn Kunz (German 200m backyard champion)
- Nils Knuchelmann (German shooting champion)
- Lucas Richter (Winning the World Games with the National Boat Polo Team)
Difference
- tansport Tim Göttingen (Germany Champion and formation of the third standard for the World Cup)
- BG Göttingen (Eurochallenge Basketball Winner)
- C-Juniors I. SC Göttingen 05 (participation in the Regional Football League, First Division)
- Minigolfclub Göttingen Ladies (German national team champion)
- RV Stahlross Obernfeld (André and Manuel Kopp, German cycling champion)
- Göttinger Badler Women’s Club (Germany Champion)
- University of Göttingen women’s basketball (multiple German university champion)
- TV Jan Doderstadt (3rd German Handball League)
- University of Göttingen Basketball 3×3 (Men’s World University League Final)
- University of Göttingen Running (Sabine Rothog, Bert Friedrich and Anck von Gaza: German Universities Champions in Orientation)
You can now vote online at gturl.de/sportlegenden
About 20 universities competed for it during the application process. “I hope I can take a huge leap forward because the training conditions will be much better,” Koons says. On the side will study business administration. “It’s the perfect combination of academic and athletic.”
Scholarships are a big but logical step
The Sports Scholarship on the other side of the Atlantic is a big step, but also a logical one if you take Kunzi’s ambitions into account: “I hope to be at the top in Germany in two or three years, and then be able to start internationally for Germany.”
When voting for the Athlete of the Decade, users should vote for it: “My ambition is what sets me apart, in training, but above all in competition,” says Koons. “I’ve been swimming in Göttingen since I was young and have represented my team at the state and German championships for years.” Now the next step is on the way. It shouldn’t be the last on the way to the top of German swimming.
You can vote Here!
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