Heidtmann and Diener Swim Under German Olympic Cuts in Final Prelims Session

2021 GERMAN OLYMPIC TRIALS – BERLIN

• Friday, April 16th – Sunday, April 18th
• Friday/Saturday: Prelims at 10am local/Finals at 5pm local; Sunday: Prelims at 9:30am local/Finals at 4pm local
• Schwimm- und Sprunghalle im Europasportpark, Berlin
• German Olympic Selection Policy
• Long course meters (LCM)
• Start lists
• Live results
• Live stream
• Preview

Last day, last chances for the German swimmers to secure an Olympic ticket over the 200m breaststroke, 200m backstroke, 200m IM and 50m freestyle and in the afternoon in the finals additionally over 800m (women) and 1500m (men) freestyle.

All eyes were on Christian Diener and Jesssica Steiger in today’s morning prelims. They are two of the most successful and experienced German swimmers of the last years. Both had not yet managed to qualify for the Olympics. But Jessica Steiger gave up her last chance in the 200m breaststroke and did not compete. She wrote on Facebook that it was not enough for her to qualify for the Olympics, but that she will represent Germany at the European Championships in May. She expressed her sadness that she hasn’t been able to fullfill her dream of a participation at Olympic Games.

Christian Diener, on the other hand, made it really exciting and undercut the German standard time by 0.01 seconds in the 200 m backstroke. The 2016 Olympic finalist came in at 1:56.99. His personal best is a time of 1:56.27. The only other participant in this preliminary heat, Ole Braunschweig, tried once again to break the Olympic standard in the 100 m backstroke. He swam the first 100m in 53.74, the Oly cut is 53.70. Braunschweig has already recommended himself for the men’s 4x100m medley relay. Maybe he will swim the final tonight with the same tactics. After his sprint he swam out, his final time was 2:40,01.

Jacob Heidtmann already is qualified for Tokyo in the 400m IM and pre-qualified for the men’s 4×200 m freestyle. He managed to dip under the Olympic cut also in the 200m IM. He set a new personal best time of 1.59,25 and stayed 0,15 seconds under the norm.

With Jessica Steiger out of the competition, perhaps Kim Herkle will be able to take over the German 200m breaststroke legacy: She finished first in the morning’s heats in 2:26.21. Herkle owns a personal best time of 2:25.56. But she must break Steiger’s current German record tonight to undercut the Olympic norm. The target time is: 2:24.90.

OTHER TOP FINISHES

• Max Pilger was hunting the men’s 200 m breaststroke Olmypic standard. He touched first in 2:11,01 (German Oly Norm: 2:09.90).
• Jenny Mensing set the fastest time in the 200m backstroke in 2:13.50 (German Oly Norm: 2:09.50).
• It took Damian Wierling 22.49 seconds for the men’s 50m freestyle. He is the current  German record holder in 21,81 (German Oly Norm: 21.95)
• Jessica Felsner hit the wall with the fastest time of 25.36  in the women’s 50m free (German Oly Norm:  24.75).

Current German Olympic Roster (Tokyo 2020)

• Sarah Koehler – 800 / 1500 freestyle
• Florian Wellbrock – 800 / 1500 freestyle
• Marco Koch – 200 breaststroke
• Laura Riedemann – 100 backstroke
• Franziska Hentke – 200 butterfly
• Marius Kusch – 100 butterfly
• Philip Heintz – 200 IM

German swimmers having achieved national Olympic qualifying times

• David Thomasberger – 200 butterfly
• Fabian Schwingenschlögl – 100 breast
• Leonie Kullmann – 400 freestyle
• Isabel Gose – 200, 400, 800 freestyle
• Florian Wellbrock – 400 freestyle
• Lukas Märtens – 200, 400, 1500 freestyle
• Henning Mühlleitner – 400 freestyle
• Celine Rieder – 1500 freestyle
• Lucas Matzerath – 100 breaststroke
• Annika Bruhn – 100, 200 freestyle
• Sarah Köhler – 400 freestyle
• Damian Wierling – 100 freestyle

Swimmers who have earned consideration for relay swims

• Marie Pietruschka – 4×200 freestyle, 4×100 freestyle
• Leonie Kullmann –  4×200 freestyle
• Jacob Heidtmann – 4×200 freestyle
• Poul Zellmann – 4×200 freestyle
• Henning Mühlleitner – 4×200 freestyle
• Lisa Höpink – 4×100 medley (butterfly), 4×100 freestyle
• Anna Elendt –  4×100 medley (breaststroke)
• Ole Braunschweig –  4×100 medley (backstroke)
• Hannah Kuechler – 4×100 freestyle
• Marius Kusch – 4×100 freestyle
• Eric Friese – 4×100 freestyle
• Christoph Fildebrandt – 4×100 freestyle

As a refresher, the Olympic standards, German records, and already qualified swimmers in each Olympic event are as follows: