Three first places, two second places and two fourth places - with team spirit, creativity and technological expertise, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar students outperformed all competitors at the Concrete Canoe Regatta 2024. They finished the competition course on the Beetzsee in record time, exceeding all expectations. The Weimar team had already ranked high during the international competition in 2022. But 2024 topped this: 

The student teams competed with the boats they had made themselves, »CEM-Rex« and »th-Rex«, and qualified for the final together. The Weimar team took first place in both the women's and mixed competitions. The men also gave it their all, finishing just 0.1 seconds behind the winning team. The key to success: Concrete boats that are both light and manoeuvrable. 

The students were honoured with the construction prize (2nd place) and the design prize (1st place) for their motto »KANUSAURUS – Aufbruch in ein neues Betonzeitalter«. The matching t-shirt design placed in the top 10. The Weimar canoeists also took part in the open competition with their boat »Littlefoot«. They secured fourth place in this category. 

The Weimar canoeists have been among the favourites at the concrete canoe regatta for many years. In 2024, the competition took place for the first time under the direction of student Friederike Gladitz: From the idea to the implementation, students of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar were in charge and responsible for organising themselves into specialist teams. The engineers benefited from 30 years of concrete canoe regatta experience and the support of sponsor »thomas zement«. 

All prizes at a glance:

Sporting Competition (Mixed)
28 starting boats
1st place for the »CEM-Rex« boat with Tilman Wetjen, Cleo Bindereif

Sporting Competition (Women)
45 starting boats
1st place for »th-Rex« boat with Elisabeth Bley, Gina Birkenbach
4th place for »CEM-Rex« boat with Kira Valentin, Jinyue Chi (Emilia)

Sporting Competition (Men)
59 starting boats
2nd place for »CEM-Rex« boat with Theo Daubner, Jonas Hannich 
8th place for »th-Rex« boat with Nino Tremer, Lukas Koops

»Offene Klasse« Competition
4th place for »Littlefoot«

»Konstruktion« Competition
Award for outstanding innovation, sustainability, and creative design ideas:
2nd place for »th-REX« boat

»Gestaltung« Competition
Award for creative and comprehensive design ideas:
1st place for »th-REX« boat

»Regattashirt« Competition
Top 10 ranking for the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

The Competition
This year’s competition was organised for the 19th time by »InformationsZentrum Beton GmbH (IZB)« on behalf of the German cement and concrete industry. The event combines concrete, boat building technology, sporting competition and, most importantly, a good time. Women's, men's and mixed teams from universities, universities of applied sciences and other institutions where concrete technology is taught can take part. The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar team spent eight months preparing for the Regatta: The construction of the boats took seven months, and the students also did five weeks of basic training in canoe racing at the Großbrembach reservoir. 

Further information can be found on the event website: www.beton.org/inspiration/betonkanu-regatta/