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
Christian Diener and Jacob Heidtmann were the last two swimmers who ducked under the German Olympic standards on the last day of the German Olympic Trials. Both succeeded in the morning heats, Christian Diener in the 200m backstroke and Jacob Heidtmann in the 200m IM. Heidtmann already is qualified for Tokyo in the 400m IM and pre-qualified for the men’s 4×200 m freestyle.
The qualification period is now closed. The German Swimming Federation (DSV) and the German Olympic Sports Federation (DOSB) will now decide together with the German head coaches which swimmers will finally receive the tickets to Tokyo.
At the moment, the swimmers are divided in three clusters: Eight swimmers already have the Olympic participation under their belt because they reached the standards in the previous qualifying period in 2020 or were among the top four at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju. These are:
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
- Jacob Heidtmann – 400 IM
Among them are some who could add more individual events to their program: Sarah Köhler and Florian Wellbrock hit the Olympic target times in the 400m freestyle. Jacob Heidtmann will get another chance to compete on the Olympic stage in the 200m IM.
Apart from these swimmers, 11 other swimmers were successful with an eye on the Olympics. 18-year-old Isabel Gose succeeded in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle, her programm will also include a participation in the women’s 4x200m freestyle. Her teammate at the Magdeburg traininig base, Lukas Märtens, dipped under the norms in the 200, 400 and 1500 freestyle. Annika Bruhn is the fastest German freestyle lady in the 100m and 200m. David Thomasberger set a new German record en route to get an Olmypic spot in the 200 butterfly. So did Fabian Schwingenschloegl in the 100 breaststroke.
After the exciting last three weeks of the qualification period, these swimmers can have justified hopes to represent the German colors in Tokyo:
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
- Lukas Märtens – 200, 400, 1500 freestyle
- Henning Mühlleitner – 400 freestyle
- Celine Rieder – 1500 freestyle
- Lucas Matzerath – 100 breaststroke
- Annika Bruhn – 100, 200 freestyle
- Damian Wierling – 100 freestyle
- Christian Diener – 200 backstroke
A total of 19 German swimmers undercut the standards.
And in addition, a number of swimmers were able to stake their claim for a spot in a German relay at the Olympics. The rules for the selection of the relay swimmers were that only the fastest performances achieved in a final will be used. Preliminary performances didn’t count. In a long-distance duel Eric Friese could get a starting place in the 4×100 m freestyle relay. He swam a time of 49.05 in the final of the 100m freestyle at the Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo, USA. In addition to swimmers who cracked the standard in a relay relevant event, these swimmers are on the consideration list:
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:
| Women | Men | |||||
| Already qualified for Tokyo | German Record | German Olympic norm | Event | German Olympic norm | German Record | Already qualified for Tokyo |
| 23.73 | 24.75 | 50 freestyle | 21.95 | 21.81 | ||
| 52.07 | 54.10 | 100 freestyle | 48.50 | 48.24 | ||
| 1:55.68 | 1:57.20 | 200 freestyle | 1:46.70 | 1:42.00 | ||
| 4:03.96 | 4:07.50 | 400 freestyle | 3:46.40 | 3:40.07 | ||
| Sarah Köhler | 8:16.43 | 8:30.00 | 800 freestyle | 7:50.00 | 7:43.03 | Florian Wellbrock |
| Sarah Köhler | 15:48.83 | 16:16.00 | 1500 freestyle | 14:59.00 | 14:36.15 | Florian Wellbrock |
| 1:07.01 | 1:07.00 | 100 breaststroke | 59.80 | 58,95 | ||
| 2:25.00 | 2:24.90 | 200 breaststroke | 2:09.90 | 2:07.47 | Marco Koch | |
| Laura Riedemann | 59.77 | 1:00.00 | 100 backstroke | 53.70 | 52.27 | |
| 2:07.63 | 2:09.50 | 200 backstroke | 1:57.00 | 1:55.87 | ||
| 57.70 | 57.90 | 100 butterfly | 51.80 | 51.19 | Marius Kusch | |
| Franziska Hentke | 2:05.26 | 2:08.20 | 200 butterfly | 1:56,30 | 1:55,04 | |
| 2:11.33 | 2:11.90 | 200 IM | 1:59.40 | 1:55.76 | Philip Heintz | |
| 4:36.10 | 4:38.40 | 400 IM | 4:15.00 | 4:12.08 | Jacob Heidtmannn | |
With the German qualifying times being under the FINA A cuts although maybe not as fast as some other countries I hope that if any of the swimmers that make the team for Relays can have a chance to swim individually in events were they have the A cut and there is an open spot – if they would like to do that. I know that could open up for people complaining that it is not fair but from a roster point of view, they still count towards the maximum number of athletes allowed under the number that FINA/aquatics are allowed.