Q! Cup
- April 15-16, 2023
- Heidelberg, Germany
- Long Course Meters (50m), Prelims/Finals
- Meet Central
- Meet Results
Germany is in the throes of their three week qualifying period which will conclude next weekend with the Berlin Swim Open, the big show, but swimmers are eligible to qualify for the World Championships via swims done this weekend (and the last two as well).
At the Q! Cup meet in Heideblerg on Saturday, Luca Armbruster tied the German Record in the 50 meter butterfly, swimming 23.02. That matched the record-setting swim done by Steffen Deibler at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain almost a decade ago.
That’s a pretty big drop for Armbruster, whose best time in the event was a 23.49 done almost four years ago in July 2019.
He also swam a 49.11 in the 100 free. That knocked almost a full second off his previous best of 50.10 that was done in December.
Armbruster had a promising junior career, breaking German Age Records and winning three medals at the 2019 European Junior Championships, but his progression stalled out a bit through the pandemic.
His best shot at hitting an individual qualifying mark will come on Sunday in the 100 fly. His best time is 52.54 and the qualifying standard is 51.67, plus top two among Germans in the qualifying period (nobody was prequalified via a top 8 finish at Worlds last year).
That time also would have made him the 4th-best German in the event over the last 16 months. Germany didn’t swim a 400 free relay at Worlds last year, but if they choose to do so in 2023, Armbruster is in position to be part of that – a German relay that is starting to shape up pretty nicely with a relatively-young core:
- Rafael Miroslaw – 47.92
- Josha Salchow – 48.76
- Peter Varjasi – 49.05
- Luca Armbruster – 49.11
A qualifying standard for Worlds fell in Heidelberg in the men’s 800 free when Sven Schwarz swam 7:50.01. That cleared the 7:51.65 standard. This is one of the few races where there’s going to be a competition beyond ‘hitting the standard’ for spots on the German team at Worlds; Florian Wellbrock has one spot locked up via his silver medal at Worlds.
Beyond that, a deep field, including Lukas Martens, will compete for that second slot at the Berlin Swim Open next weekend.
Other Results from Heidelberg:
- David Thomasberger swam 1:55.85 in the 200 fly, which is .07 seconds shy of the World Championship qualifying standard. His personal best is 1:55.04 from last year.
- 20-year-old Timo Sorgius swam 49.92 in the 100 free, placing him 2nd behind Armbruster.
Other Qualifying Swims from Westmont, Illinois and Stockholm, Sweden
A handful of German swimmers who train in the US are racing this week at the Pro Swim Series meet in Westmont, Illinois, while others are racing at the Stockholm Swim Open in Sweden.
- Anna Elendt swam 2:24.74 in the 200 breaststroke, missing her German Record by .11 seconds, in Westmont. She is already prequalified for the roster in the 100 breaststroke, but not in the 200 – and that time should be an insurmountable hurdle for her competition to knock her out of that spot. She also swam 1:06.59 in the 100 breaststroke for 3rd behind Americans Lydia Jacoby and Lilly King.
- In Westmont, Eric Friese swam 51.72 in the 100 fly, missing the World Championship standard by .05 seconds. Marius Kusch was 52.16, a new personal best, but also shy of the standard. That battle is important for the medley relay, which Germany is likely to send.
- Giulia Goerigk, who trains at Texas A&M, was 3rd in the 400 IM in Westmont in 4:45.72. her 4:45.19 in prelims was a new personal best for the 20-year-old, though it still missed the qualifying standard for the U23 European Championships by about four seconds.
- Lucas Matzerath won the 100 breast (1:00.66) in Stockholm. The qualifying standard is 59.49, though he’s prequalified in that event via his World Championship performance from last year.