According to German swimming website swimsportnews.de, Yannick Lebherz will join the European team for the 2013 Duel in the Pool, a made-for-TV event that runs from December 20th-21st in Glasgow, Scotland.
Lebherz is a middle-distance specialist who could potentially contribute to this team in about a dozen different events.
His best race, though, is the 400 IM, where he’s the German Record holder in both long course (4:12.4) and short course (4:05.0) meters.
We still have not heard a public commitment from American Ryan Lochte, though it’s been widely speculated that he might go (Lochte is always up for big meets), but Lebherz might be the only European to stop him and the already-committed Chase Kalisz from toppling the IM events.
Lebherz is also a fantastic backstroker, having been 1:56.69 in the 200 in long course. Overall, he’s a solid short course meters swimmer, and in the least has a lot of experience in it as compared to the U.S. team. That includes a European Short Course title in the 200 back in 2010. Expect him to be a major part of this European team that continues to pick up steam headed toward their battle with the Americans.