As a medical doctor, Frans Goebel knows about diseases. He has self-diagnosed his own – rowing. The former lightweight World Champion from Amsterdam cannot stop himself.

Goebel got into the sport because, he says, he didn’t have a talent for other sports. “I played soccer but wasn’t very good so I was always the spare.” There was a rowing club in Goebel’s neighbourhood and after starting he soon realised if he worked hard he could succeed. Goebel worked hard but found himself up against the head coach who believed Goebel’s technique wasn’t good enough. But 16–year-old Goebel had decided that he wanted to race. “There was a coach that trusted me. This coach gave me a chance.” Goebel soon became Dutch champion in the single because, he says, “I was eager to show I was a good sportsman and you can show it in the best way in the single.” Also Goebel believed success would come from training hard. “In rowing if you train and train you can get good.” He went on to be Dutch single champion 12 times. For just over a decade, Goebel rowed internationally, changing between heavyweight and lightweight depending on the situation. He competed in two Olympic Games and became World Champion in the lightweight single in 1990. Goebel’s natural weight was 80kg so it was hard work for him to make lightweight (72.5kg) and his first time rowing lightweight happened through misfortune. “I got dysentery while training and lost weight so they changed me to lightweight.” But Goebel found he was more successful as a lightweight. “The weigh-in before races was a big performance,” says Goebel. “Racing was easier than the weigh-in.” After the 1992 Olympics Goebel finished his international career. He already had a young family and had already been working six years as a medical doctor. Transitioning from elite rower to club rower was very difficult for Goebel. “It still is very difficult. A lot of times I go rowing and I still believe in my head that I’m 26 and I want to compete against whoever’s on the water.” Goebel owns three singles that he keeps at different locations and ensures that he canrow all year round. He now only competes in head races and his favourite is the Skiffhead in Amsterdam. Goebel has raced in it every year since 1976. Last year, for the first time, Goebel stopped racing open and switched to his age group. Training, though, is more important to Goebel than racing. “I like training more than racing. I row for feeling. It’s kind of a mind flow. I can relax my mind if I have problems on land. I like to do long training rows, but not real slow. I rate 24 – 25 (strokes per minute) for an hour. For me it’s impossible to row slowly.” Goebel’s son, Abel, has followed his dad’s path to rowing and Goebel has to admit that Abel is getting faster and a couple of years ago started beating his dad. Admitting that he is now slower than when he was younger is difficult for Goebel. “It’s a pity,” he says. “But I am very fit for my age.” Goebel did coach at his club, "De Hoop", but he gave it up after five years. “I decided I liked rowing myself more. As a coach I am the same as my rowing, I can’t stand it if an athlete goes slow. I’m not good. I demand too much.” “I will row for the rest of my life. I don’t think I can live without it.”