Swimming World Championship
“Huge reaction”: Divers end the medal slump
The DSV quartet won bronze in the mixed team competition. photo
© Lee Jinman/AP/dpa
The German water jump team is happy on the fourth day of the World Championships with medal decisions about the longed-for first precious metal. It is a premiere for national coach Christoph Bohm.
The German water jumpers cheered exuberantly at the end of their lack of medals at the World Championships. In the eighth competition at the title fights in Japan, the time had finally come.
Lena Hentschel, Christina Wassen, Moritz Wesemann and Timo Barthel were happy about the bronze medal in the mixed team. They were only beaten by the previously invincible Chinese team and silver medalists Mexico. In six jumps – two individual jumps and one synchronized jump from board and tower – the quartet of the German Swimming Association achieved 432.15 points.
“It was an all-round good team event from us,” said Hentschel enthusiastically. She proudly posed with her teammates for a bronze photo together.
The Germans have thus prevented the already feared completely medalless World Cup – and that in a competition in which they are not actually the top favorites precious metal were valid. The performances so far have been too shaky and inconsistent. Since 2017 there has been at least one medal at all World Championships.
“Mega, great, great”
“Mega, mega, mega. It’s unbelievable. A huge reaction from the team,” said national coach Christoph Bohm. “I’m really happy – especially after what we’ve had to take in the last few days.” For Bohm it was the first podium finish in his new post.
The coach, who is always emotionally involved at the edge of the pool and who likes to withdraw for a while after failures to calm down, has had more reason to be angry than happy in the Fukuoka jumping hall. Above all, Barthel and Lars Rüdiger’s missed precious metal in synchronized jumping from the three-meter board had rankled him. Now he said: “We’re celebrating the medal without end. Hopefully that will give the whole team self-confidence.” There are still five decisions to be made at this World Cup.
Hentschel somehow seemed to have guessed the success. “We know what we can do,” said the 22-year-old on Monday after her ninth place with Jana Lisa Rother in synchronized jumping from the three-meter board and announced with a smile: “The duck poops in the back.”