GOTHAER INSURANCE CUP – MADGEBURG
- March 31, 2023 – April 2, 2023
- Madgeburg, Germany
- Long Course Meters (50 meters) – Timed Finals
- Live Streaming
- Psych Sheets/Entry Lists
- Live Results
- Day 1 Recap
Lukas Martens clocked a world-leading time in the 400-meter freestyle with a 3:43.32 at the Gothaer Insurance Cup in Madgeburg.
The 21-year-old German reached the wall nearly three seconds faster than Tunisian Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnaoui, who posted a world-leading 3:46.02 at last month’s Pro Swim Series stop in Fort Lauderdale.
Top Times This Season, Men’s 400-Meter Freestyle
2022-2023 LCM Men 400 Free
Short
3:40.68
| 2 | Ahmed Hafnaoui | TUN | 3:40.70 | 07/23 |
| 3 | Lukas Martens | GER | 3:42.20 | 07/23 |
| 4 | Elijah Winnington | AUS | 3:43.48 | 06/13 |
| 5 | Guilherme Costa | BRA | 3:43.58 | 07/23 |
Martens was less than two seconds off his personal-best 3:41.60 from last April’s Stockholm Open, which made him the eighth-fastest performer of all time. He went on to place second in event at last year’s World Championships (3:42.85) before bringing home a gold medal at the European Championships (3:42.50) later in the summer.
“I would not have expected this after the difficult race the day before in the 1500,” said Martens, who earned a runner-up finish in 14:55.45 on Friday behind Florian Wellbrock‘s 14:40.18 — the top two times in the world so far this year. “I don’t want to hide and also in this seasonal phase show all competitors already what’s coming up.”
Martens was the only swimmer to finish under Germany’s Worlds standard (3:46.78) in Madgeburg, which marked the first opportunity for German swimmers to qualify for the upcoming Worlds in Fukuoka, Japan. Martens was already pre-nominated to this year’s World Championship team thanks to his top 8 finish at Worlds last year.
Oliver Klemet placed second behind Martens on Saturday with a 3:47.29.
In other notable news from Saturday’s action, Angelina Köhler became the first German swimmer who didn’t pre-qualify for Worlds to sneak under a standard this weekend. The 22-year-old went 57.95 during the 100 butterfly prelims, dipping under the Worlds cut of 57.92 before winning the 100 fly in 57.95 during the evening session.
“To swim a time under 58 seconds twice here, that’s a good sign so soon after the altitude training,” said Kohler, who missed a German national record in the 50 fly by just .07 seconds with a 25.75 on Friday night.
Germany’s Nina Holt triumphed in the 100 free with a personal-best 55.48. A world champion in lifeguarding last year, Holt has turned her attention back to the Olympic sport and has been training with national coach Bernd Berkhahn since December.
“That was already a nice step forward, and we haven’t been able to do that much yet,” Berkhahn said.
Germany’s Worlds Qualifying Standards:
|
WOMEN |
|
MEN |
|
DSV World Cup standard |
Route |
DSV World Cup standard |
|
24.70 |
50m freestyle |
21.96 |
|
53.61 |
100m freestyle |
48.34 |
|
1:57.26 |
200m freestyle |
1:46.26 |
|
4:07.90 |
400m freestyle |
3:46.78 |
|
8:26,71 |
800m freestyle |
7:51,65 |
|
16:09.09 |
1500m freestyle |
15:00.99 |
|
1:06.79 |
100m breaststroke |
59.49 |
|
2:23.91 |
200m breaststroke |
2:09.68 |
|
59.99 |
100m backstroke |
53.74 |
|
2:10,39 |
200m backstroke |
1:57.50 |
|
57.92 |
100m butterfly |
51.67 |
|
2:08.43 |
200m butterfly |
1:55.78 |
|
2:11,47 |
200m medley |
1:57.94 |
|
4:38.53 |
400m medley |
4:12.50 |
Relays
|
3:39.79 |
4X100M FREESTYLE |
3:15,40 |
|
7:57.50 |
4x200m freestyle |
7:09.95 |
|
4:01,37 |
4x100m medley |
3:35,33 |
|
3:46.70 |
4x100m mixed medley |
3:46.70 |
Athletes who finished in the top 8 in an Olympic event at last year’s World Championship in Budapest are pre-nominated, though only one of the available two slots in each event can be pre-nominated. That list of pre-nominated swimmers includes:
- Lukas Martens – 200/400 free
- Florian Wellbrock – 800/1500 free
- Lucas Matzerath – 100 breast
- Anna Elendt – 100 breast
- Isabel Gose – 200/400//800 free
Multiple things to say about this:
1) Actually you are wrong. He swam 3:46.10 (2.78 seconds slower) at the same meet last year.
2) He is already qualified in the 400 and 200 free (and this wasn’t the case last year), so he doesn’t really have a reason to swim fast here.
3) His training group (including Wellbrock, Gose and Romanchuk) just finished a High-altitude training camp, so as far as I know they didn’t try to peak now. The final qualification meet will be in 3 weeks, I think they might have focused on that meet.
Also for April, 3:43.3 is very fast even if he is 2 seconds slower than last year. I think he’s going to have an amazing season. Winnington will be there too but learning from last year could make the difference this year for Märtens.
Awesome work. These two Florian and lukas don’t mess around. Hemoglobin of 160 plus and big aerobic volume. How to kill it in the 400 up
I thought Winnington did 3.45 this season? In December at QLD champs.
He did
Riley was using the calendar year. I’ve updated the list to be for the season.
As an honest USA Swimming fan I can say than we are incapable of having good 400 freestylers
Yeah guys that train for the 400 in the US hate it so they run to the 200
Is it like an extra hellish version of the 200?
Because it is twice (or more) easier to make the Olympic team in a relay!
we sacrificed the men for ledecky, it’s just how it is
Fair but with Kieran smith’s American record in December and the rise of Luke Hobson, I think will still be okay.
Almost two seconds slower than this time last year so I guess he’s gonna peak when it matters this year.
In Germany there are 3 qualifying meets, so maybe he will be even faster in one of them. But I definitely he learnt his lesson and will be at his best at worlds