Swimming World Championships in Qatar
No Olympic form: Wellbrock defeated again in the open water
Florian Wellbrock was once again unable to swim into the medal ranks at the World Championships. photo
© Jo Kleindl/dpa
In recent years, Florian Wellbrock has dominated open water swimming. A lot of things are going wrong at the World Championships. The 26-year-old is still aiming for medals in the pool.
Wrapped in a towel and looking visibly at a loss Florian Wellbrock for explanations for his next failed World Cup race. The open water Olympic champion discussed his disappointing ninth place over five kilometers with national coach Bernd Berkhahn in front of the large results screen in the port of Doha.
“It was better than the ten kilometers, but still not good – so not what we had planned for today,” said the 26-year-old. “I’m not satisfied at this point,” he added, and that sounded like an understatement. The exceptional swimmer jumped into the sea twice as defending champion in Qatar. Twice he emerged badly beaten.
Beck also without a World Cup medal in open water
Because teammate Oliver Klemet in eighth place and around two and a half hours earlier Leonie Beck (14th) and Jeannette Spiwoks (16th) did not win any medals, one thing is certain: for the first time since 2017, the German open water swimmers will end a world championship without an individual medal. At that time, the team from the German Swimming Association (DSV) even remained completely without a podium place. This Thursday (8.30/CET) the relay has the chance to at least prevent that this time.
Wellbrock, who spoke of Germany as an “open water nation” at the last World Championships when he and Beck won double gold, has planned his World Championships without a relay start. “The cold water and the wavy conditions don’t suit me as well as the others,” he said after his second World Cup appearance. Things actually looked better for him there for a long time than when he collapsed and finished 29th two days earlier over twice the distance.
Wellbrock set an enormous pace in the first lap when the water temperature was less than 20 degrees and thus evened out the field of participants. Even after that, the Bremen native stayed at the front in front of his parents who had arrived and seemed to have the event under control for a long time. When the best guys increased the pace in the final phase of the race, Wellbrock couldn’t do anything anymore. With his time of 51:36.7 minutes, he finished 7.4 seconds behind winner Logan Fontaine from France.
Focus on Paris
Despite all the disappointment, Wellbrock placed the competition in relation to the season’s highlight in the summer. “It’s obviously a bit annoying now,” he said. “But in the end it’s just a world championship in the Olympic year. The overall goal is a little different. That’s why we just have to put a stop to it and move forward.”
With a view to the Summer Games, he said: “I don’t have any waves on the Seine in Paris. That’s quite good.” He wants to prepare for the cool water temperatures expected in the French capital with special training in the coming months.
Before that, Wellbrock also has big plans for Doha. In the second week of the World Championships, he is one of the medal candidates in the 800 and 1500 meter freestyle in the pool. Despite the botched start to the World Cup, he remains confident in this regard. “Now it’s time to regenerate well, stay healthy and then we attack in the pool,” he said.