Florian Wellbrock on the hunt for the world title – “Hunger came back”

Final in Hungary
Professional swimmer Florian Wellbrock on the hunt for the world title

Professional swimmer Florian Wellbrock wants to win his third world title at the world championships

© Gian Mattia D’Alberto / Picture Alliance

Can Florian Wellbrock celebrate his third world championship medal on the long track this Tuesday? The double world champion of 2019 is one of the top favorites over 800 meters freestyle. One of his biggest competitors trains with him in Magdeburg.

In Tokyo, Florian Wellbrock cleared open water Olympic gold over ten kilometers last year. “Okay, well, that filled me up for a moment, but the hunger came back incredibly quickly,” said the professional athlete of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. At the World Championships in Hungary he wants to defend his title and win his first World Championship medal in the 800-meter freestyle.

The 24-year-old easily reached the final on Tuesday. With the second longest pool race, Wellbrock still has an unfinished business over 1500 meters and ten kilometers in open water swimming. These are its foreseeable biggest competitors.

Florian Wellbrock’s biggest competitors

  • Mikhailo Romanchuk: Wellbrock has a very special relationship with the Ukrainian. The two top swimmers are friends and train together in Magdeburg. At Wellbrock’s invitation, Romantschuk joined the strong training group of national coach Bernd Berkhahn because of the war in his homeland. “If a German team hadn’t invited me, I wouldn’t be here,” said Romantschuk in Budapest. The 25-year-old won bronze over 800 meters and silver over 1500 meters in Tokyo, one place ahead of Wellbrock. In the heats on Monday, Romanchuk was the only swimmer who was faster than the German.
  • Gregory Paltrinieri: The silver winner from Tokyo on the track is one of the top favorites again this time. Paltrinieri is the defending champion and has had many exciting duels with Wellbrock. While the swimming style of the native of Bremen appears elegant and economical, Paltrinieri literally plows through the water. In the heat, the Italian took fourth place just behind his compatriot Gabriele Detti, who became world champion over 800 meters in Budapest in 2017.
  • Bobby Finke: Completely surprisingly, the American was crowned double Olympic champion last summer. Finke duped the competition and won gold over 800 and 1500 meters. The great strength of the 22-year-old is the final sprint. The tactical task of Wellbrock, Romantschuk and Paltrinieri will be to distance the Florida-born athlete before the last lane.

Florian Wellbrock is already thinking about the 2024 Olympics

Besides the three athletes mentioned, Wellbrock also has the Brazilian Guilherme Costa on the slip, who had won bronze in the 400-meter freestyle. While the 23-year-old made it to the final over twice the distance, Wellbrock’s Magdeburg team-mate Lukas Märtens was surprisingly eliminated. The silver winner over the 400-meter distance, who traveled to Hungary as the world’s best of the year, was at the end of his strength.

In addition to the World Championships, Wellbrock has already set his sights on the upcoming Olympics. “It’s not difficult for me at all to keep working and training because I still have a few goals: a world record on the long track, an Olympic victory on the 50-meter track, and not ‘just’ in open water. Those are the things that keep me training at a good level,” Wellbrock explained.

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DPA

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