Swimming World Championship
Wellbrock over 800 meters solid – “tank empty” at Märtens
There will be no duel between training colleagues Lukas Märtens (l) and Florian Wellbrock over the 800 meters. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
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The showdown between club colleagues Florian Wellbrock and Lukas Märtens for medals at the swimming world championships has been postponed for the time being. A Ukrainian, on the other hand, is happy about German help.
Florian Wellbrock made a good debut at the World Championships on his troubled stretch of 800 meters freestyle, with silver winner Lukas Märtens “the tank was empty”.
The eagerly awaited duel between the two Magdeburg swimming colleagues for precious metals will not materialize, at least over the 800-meter distance. While Wellbrock, as the second fastest in the heats on Tuesday evening, is one of the top favorites for a medal, Märtens gets a break after the 200-meter freestyle final. Recovery seems badly needed ahead of the 1500m showdown at the end of the pelvic competition at the World Championships in Budapest.
Wellbrock satisfied with the lead
“It was rock solid. I thought we were going faster. I had expected a time of 7:42 minutes,” said Wellbrock, who clocked in after 7:44.75 minutes and was five hundredths of a second slower than his friend and training partner Michailo Romantschuk from Ukraine. A handshake and a pat on the back between the two showed that they get along very well despite the competition. “If no German team had invited me, I wouldn’t be here,” said Romantschuk.
Wellbrock is now better than two years ago, when he experienced a similar pre-break at the World Cup in South Korea as Märtens this time and was only a spectator in the final. That still bothers the 24-year-old, he now hopes in Budapest that he can finally find inner peace with this route. “I actually have very good qualifications for this. But I’ve never swum an 800 meter race that I was really happy with. I always had something to complain about and I hope that I can be satisfied this time,” Wellbrock said before the title fights and announced a greater focus on this route.
Martens lacked the strength
Märtens, on the other hand, was exhausted and didn’t even look for excuses. “You could see that the tank was empty. There was really nothing more. I wanted to get to the final, but it wasn’t enough,” said the 20-year-old, who clearly showed the strain of his previous performances over 400 meters and 200 meters freestyle. He won silver in the 400m on Saturday.