In Briefs: Germany Confirms Steffen Deibler for World Championships

The German Swimming Federation (DSV) has finalized their roster for the World Championships in Shanghai, and one of the country’s most famous swimmers, Steffen Deibler, has made the cut.

When Germany announced their preliminary roster in early June, they included 24 swimmers, though two of them were on a probationary basis: butterflier Steffen Deibler and breaststroker Marco Koch. Though the pair had not made the required German qualifying standards at the National Championship meet, the DSV was giving them one final audition at the Paris Open last week.

Deibler responded brilliantly to the challenge, with season-bests in both the 50 fly (23.34) and 100 fly (52.03): both times that put him in the top 6 in the world.

His teammate Koch was not as lucky. In Koch’s situation, he was suffering from a painful back injury at German Nationals and was urged to withdraw after only one preliminary race. After spending some time rehabbing, Koch was offered the same opportunity at the Paris Open, but it appeared as though his injury was too great. Koch swam only his best event in Paris, the 200 breaststroke, where he put up a 2:13.73. That time was almost a second slower than his prelims time from Nationals, and wasn’t enough to convince the DSV that he was ready for Shanghai.

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Joe Augustine
13 years ago

No problem man. Just wanted to say that you guys are doing a great job on the site!

Joe Augustin
13 years ago

I think that’s a 52.03, not a 53.02 in the 100 fly haha. A 53.02 would put him about 35th in the world rankings 😉

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Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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