Thomas Hitzbleck

At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics Thomas Hitzbleck from Emder RV rowed in the West German coxless fours, partnering with Jochen Heck, Manfred Weinreich and Volkhart Buchter. The crew reached the final but finished last and sixth. The boat also came in seventh at the 1966 Worlds and won the West German nationals in 1967 with non-Olympian Peter Winiarski in the coxed fours. One year later they won the coxless fours title.

In 1969 Hitzbleck moved to the coxed eights, winning a bronze medal at the Europeans. In 1973 he switched to the coxed fours, winning the West German nationals in 1973 and 1974, with his brother Hans-Jürgen. In 1973 both were also on the national eights championship-winning squad. With non-Olympian Frank Kerkhoff and Klaus Jäger, Hitzbleck then won the national coxed pairs title, and also a silver medal at the Worlds. At the 1976 Montréal Olympics, Hitzfeld rowed in the coxed pairs heats but was replaced in the B-final by Winfried Ringwald due to an illness. The crew ranked eighth at the end of the tournament.