German open water swimmer Andreas Waschburger has been forced out of the men’s 25 km event at the 2021 European Aquatics Championships in Budapest after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Waschburger, 34, announced his withdrawal with an Instagram post, telling fans that he was informed his PCR test (taken Tuesday) was positive on Wednesday.
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The 2012 Olympian said that the positive test was a “shock,” and that he was feeling exhausted at the time, but attributed that to the 100 km training week.
Waschburger says he took a rapid test at home that came back negative, and a second PCR test again showed that he was COVID negative. However, he was ruled out of competition to mitigate any risks that he may test positive again once on site in Budapest.
“The existing quarantine and the possibility that I will be tested positive again on site are too risky – for me and for the entire national team,” said Waschburger, translated from German.
“It’s just hard not to be allowed to start – many competitions have been canceled due to Corona. I had prepared myself well for the 25 km and I was looking forward to the race.”
Waschburger finished eighth in the 10 km open water marathon swim at the 2012 Olympics in London, and has represented Germany on multiple occasions at the World Championships and European Championships.
At the 2019 World Championships, Waschburger took eighth in the 25 km, and at the 2018 Euros, he was ninth in the distance.
Honestly, I would feel relieved not to have to swim a 25K 😉
Why don’t they just call the whole race because there’s a risk of drowning?