German Distance Trio Wreak Havoc On Day Two Of AP Race International

2025 AP RACE INTERNATIONAL

• Saturday, May 24th – Monday, May 26th
• London Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Meet Central
• Day 1 Recap
• Entries/Results

Day two of the 2025 AP Race International unfolded last night from the storied London Aquatics Centre.

The three-day competition features some of the most high-profile aquatic talent from around the world, including the trio of German distance men who have been tearing up this season’s world rankings.

Lukas Märtens, Oliver Klemet and Florian Wellbrock all contested the men’s 400m freestyle on day two, with the German trifecta capturing the top slots on the podium.

23-year-old Märtens got to the wall first, registering a gold medal-worthy result of 3:42.98, beating his countrymen by over 3 seconds.

Klemet touched next in 3:46.03 while Wellbrock earned the bronze in 3:48.61. Olympic relay medalist James Guy was the top British opponent, finishing 4th in 3:49.01.

Märtens is the reigning world record holder in the men’s 400m free, courtesy of the monster 3:39.96 he put on the books at last month’s Swim Open Stockholm.

23-year-old Klemet has been as quick as 3:43.40 this season, the lifetime best he also registered in Sweden to rank #2 in the world while Wellbrock ranks 4th with a season-best of 3:45.29.

World Championships qualifier Katie Shanahan got it done for gold in the women’s 400m IM, registering a winning effort of 4:37.99.

That time got ahead of the reigning British national champion Abbie Wood who was also sub-4:40 in 4:39.65. Amalie Smith, just 16, rounded out the podium in 4:46.70.

Shanahan’s effort tonight would have placed 3rd in the event at this year’s Aquatis GB Championships and falls just over a second outside of her lifetime best of 4:36.67 from last year.

20-year-old Miroslav Knedla came with .18 of his own Czech national record en route to claiming the men’s 50m backstroke victory.

20-year-old Knedla stopped the clock at 24.82 as one of two sub-25-second performers in the race.

Oliver Morgan, the 22-year-old ace from Birmingham, posted 24.93 as the runner-up ahead of Estonia’s national record holder Ralf Tribuntsov who touched in 25.09.

Olympic multi-medalist Duncan Scott struck gold in the men’s 200m IM ahead of Olympic 4x200m free relay teammate Tom Dean.

The former hit 1:58.52 and the latter touched in 1:58.80 while Knedla bagged the bronze in 2:00.76.

Scott took the British national title in this event at the Aquatics GB Championships, taking over the #3 slot in the season’s world rankings with a speedy 1:56.44. Dean did not contest the event at the Championships.

At the conclusion of the session, Dean was back in the water to race the men’s 100m freestyle.

25-year-old Dean settled for silver in this event as well, logging a time of 48.95. Ahead of him was Olympic silver medalist Matthew Richards who notched 48.63 for a solid in-season performance.

Dutch swimmer Renzo Tjon-a-Joe earned bronze in 49.08. Additional finalists included Jacob Mills (49.28), Alex Cohoon (49.50) and Jacob Whittle  (49.64).

Reigning 400m IM world champion Freya Colbert was too quick to catch in the women’s 200m free, posting 1:57.15 for the gold.

That handily beat the field, one which included Austria’s Iris Berger who snagged silver in 1:58.95 followed by Leah Schlosshan who put up 1:59.32 for bronze. British Olympian Freya Anderson was also in the race, falling to 4th in 1:59.40.

At last month’s Aquatics GB Championships, 21-year-old Colbert ripped a lifetime best of 1:55.76 to become Great Britain’s #2 performer in history. Only national record holder Joanne Jackson has been swifter in the 1:55.54 put on the books in 2009,

18-year-old Eneli Jefimova of Estonia, an NC State commit, was the top women’s 100m breaststroker last night.

The teen stopped the clock at 1:05.81 to establish a new national record. Her outing sliced .05 off the 1:05.86 notched at last month’s Helsinki Swim Meet. Look for a follow-up post on this impressive performance.

National record holder Angharad Evans of Great Britain turned some heads with her silver medal-worthy outing of 1:06.04. That was within striking distance of the 1:05.37 British standard she established en route to becoming national champion at last month’s Aquatic GB Championships, proving her consistency once again in this event.

Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands earned bronze in 1:07.90, with the 25-year-old most likely trying this individual event on for size again as a means to sharpen her 200m IM breaststroke split.

Additional Winners

• Australian Olympic open water silver medalist Moesha Johnson, who trains in Germany, raced her way to victory in the women’s 1500m free. The 28-year-old turned in a time of 16:00.42 to hold a healthy advantage over Isabel Gose, the Olympic bronze medalist in this event, who put up 16:04.00 in the essentially two-woman race. 17-year-old Ava Cook of the host nation was 3rd in 16:58.58.
• Three-time Olympian from Japan Rikako Ikee took the women’s 50m fly in the sole outing of the pack under the 26-second barrier. The 24-year-old posted 25.92 for the gold, although she’s been as swift as 25.41 this season to rank 3rd in the world. Martine Damborg of Denmark secured silver in 26.24 ahead of Slovakian Tamara Potocka who rounded out the podium in 26.30.
• Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium got her hand on the wall first in the women’s 100m backstroke, scoring 59.74 to touch a second outside her national record established just this past February. Dutch swimmer Maaike de Waard nabbed runner-up status in 1:00.49 and Shanahan was also in the mix at 1:00.57 for bronze.
• The men’s 50m breast saw Austria’s Luka Mladenovic top the podium in 27.12 to get the edge over former University of Texas Longhorn Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands. Dutchman Corbeau hit 27.35 for silver and Danish swimmer Elias Elsgaard bagged the bronze in 27.44.
• Czech swimmer Ondrej Gemov registered a time of 1:57.08 to take the men’s 200m fly, the 3rd-fastest time of his career. That beat out two British aces, with Ed Mildred putting up 1:59.65 and Max Litchfield logging 2:00.28.