Karl Adam (May 2, 1912 in Hagen – June 18, 1976 in Bad Salzuflen) was a German rowing coach considered one of the most successful and innovative of all time. He is widely considered to be the most important rowing coach of the 20th century.
Adam had a major impact on one of the most successful eras in German rowing history that started at the end of the 1950s. He was co-founder of the Ratzeburg Rowing Club in 1953 and head of the Rowing Academy there. That he had never rowed or sculled before he started coaching is a legend. Adam learned rowing and sculling during his studies in Sports in the late 1930s. Previously, he was a competitive boxer and became World Champion of Students in 1937.
A great innovator of rowing and training techniques, Adam's methods had a major impact on the further development of rowing. His rowing technique became known in the rowing world as the "Ratzeburg" style. Adam was the first to adapt fartlek, also known as speedplay, and interval training from track (athletics)as well as heavy weight training to rowing. He pioneered a new, more efficient, oar design and was the first coach to use "bucket" or "German" rigging. (Typical rigging alternates between port and starboard rowers (e.g. PSPS). In German rigging, two starboard (or port) rowers sit directly behind one another, e.g. PSSP).
Between 1959 and 1967, his boats won seven titles at World and European Championships. In addition his eight won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, a silver medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico. Nothing since has matched the impact of the sudden explosion of Ratzeburg and Karl Adam onto the rowing scene.
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“Cannons and fire-arms are cruel and damnable machines; I believe them to have been the direct suggestion of the Devil. If Adam had seen in a vision the horrible instruments his children were to invent, he would have died of grief.”
—Martin Luther (1483–1546)