Hans Röcken’s series: five throws past the world record
Hans Röcken, the new M65 indoor weight throw recordman, should be a sprinter — as fast as he replied to my email queries. One question was: What was your series? He says he opened with a 17.25 (56-7 1/4), which beat his Miyazaki WAVA friend Dick Hotchkiss’ record by nearly a foot and a half. Then came the bomb (19.12/62-8 3/4) followed by throws of 18.21 (59-9), 18.27 (59-11 1/4), 18.72 (61-5) and finally 14.70 (48-2 3/4). The meet was Dec. 21 in the Westphalian village of Warendorf. The venue was the Leichtathletik-Halle der Sportschule der Bundeswehr.
Hans, who turned 65 on Nov. 19, 2005, says he’s thrown the 20-pound weight outdoors an amazing 21.10 (69- 2 3/4). “But I believe that I can throw in the spring 2007 further — 19.50-20.00,” he wrote me in German first.
He’s training for the 2007 European Masters Indoor Championships in Helsinki, but may also throw at the Riccione world outdoor championships in September, entering the discus, hammer, weight and weight pentathlon.
Hans’ goal for the season?
“Gesund bleiben,” he writes. (Remain healthy.)
I also checked with Dick on his old friend from the Miyazaki 1993 world WAVA meet.
Dick writes that Hans is “one of the few of the top flight German throwers that competes clean. Johann Hansen ( M69) is another. Of course, that is only my opinion.”
“Hans is a very large athletic man at 6’3” and near 300 lbs. Before I was injured, Hans and I were about even up in the throws. He finished second and I third in the Myasaki World Weight Pentathlon championship in 1993.
“In our only competition, Hans had a slight upper hand in the hammer and weight and I had the same in shot discus and javelin. We were only a few points apart in total score. It does not surprise me that he threw 19.12. especially if he is uninjured and fit.
“In my interactions with Hans he was the consummate gentleman athlete. He speaks fluent English and is very intelligent. I would expect throws of beyond 20 meters if he is training well.”
2 Responses
Certainly that was a great throw, but I noticed in the December National Masters News that back in September Bill Burke threw well beyond Hans Rocken’s 19.12m “bomb”. At the Nevada Senior Games Burke, 66, threw 20.18 which broke the existing record of 19.92. Of course, Burke’s throw was outdoors and Rocken’s was indoors, but still there is over a full meter’s difference.
Hi
Can anyone explain why an event that originated in scottish athletics as a one handed throw has now been designated as requiring two hands in European Masters and US Masters. It is now just another hammer event!
Could it be that some of the throwers with olympic backgronds were frightened of being beaten by “Real Men” from Highland Games or World’s strongest man type background.(Another sign of “real Men” throwers is not using a glove for throwing!)
It would be best to allow one or two hands and thus more in keeping with tradition.
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