Anna Elendt Drops 1:05.9 German Record In 100 Breast, #2 In The World This Year

2022 TYR PRO SWIM SERIES SAN ANTONIO

The depth of global talent in the women’s 100 breaststroke got a little bit deeper on Thursday as Germany’s Anna Elendt cracked 1:06 for the first time during the preliminary heats at the 2022 Pro Swim Series meet in San Antonio.

Elendt, 20, rocketed to a time of 1:05.96 to smash her previous German Record of 1:06.50 and move into second in the world rankings this year.

2022 WORLD RANKINGS – WOMEN’S 100m BREASTSTROKE

RANK TIME SWIMMER MEET DATE
1 1:05.19 Reona Aoki (JPN) Japan Selection Trial for 19th FINA World Championships 3/2/22
2 1:05.96 Anna Elendt (GER) TYR Pro Swim Series San Antonio 2022 3/31/22
3 1:06.24 Lilly King (USA) TYR Pro Swim Series Westmont 2022 3/3/22
4 1:06.35 Kotryna Teterevkova (LTU) Lithuanian National Championships 2022 2/17/22
5 1:06.48 Annie Lazor (USA) TYR Pro Swim Series Westmont 2022 3/3/22

Elendt’s time chops more than half a second off her previous best, which was set at the 2021 German Championships in Berlin. Both of Elendt’s splits from this morning were faster than her previous time, however, the difference-maker came in the opening 50 where she was incredibly .51 faster.

SPLIT COMPARISON – GERMAN CHAMPS VS. SAN ANTONIO PRO SERIES

Elendt, German Championships (June 2021) Elendt, Pro Swim Series – San Antonio (March 2022)
31.69 31.18
34.81 34.78
1:06.50 1:05.96

Her time from San Antonio is also a full second faster than her clocking of 1:06.96 from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. That time was set in the heats, and she wound up placing 13th out of the semi-finals. Elendt’s time from San Antonio also would’ve placed 5th in the Tokyo Olympic final.

TOKYO 2020 OLYMPIC FINAL RESULTS – WOMEN’S 100m BREASTSTROKE

Rank Name Country Time
1 JACOBY Lydia USA 1:04.95
2 SCHOENMAKER Tatjana SA 1:05.22
3 KING Lilly USA 1:05.54
4 CHIKUNOVA Evgeniia ROC 1:05.90
5 EFIMOVA Yuliya ROC 1:06.02
6 HANSSON Sophie SWE 1:06.07
7 CARRARO Martina ITA 1:06.19
8 McSHARRY Mona IRL 1:06.94

Elendt’s time also ranks her as the 27th-fastest performer in the event (per USA Swimming’s Database), just ahead of Italy’s Benedetta Pilato.

For the upcoming 2022 World Championships, Germany is operating on an open meet system where athletes simply have to hit the nation’s qualifying times, which stands at 1:06.70 in the women’s 100 breast.

Germany had no one in the top 8 in Tokyo, meaning no athletes automatically qualified for the 2022 World Championships. This means that Elendt is at the top of the list for qualification purposes unless two Germans beat her before the qualifying period ends.

Elendt is coming off a successful college season where she helped lead Texas to become the NCAA runners-up, which was the program’s best finish since 1994. At NCAAs, Elendt became the 5th-fastest performer in history in the 100-yard breaststroke (56.88) and was a 4-time NCAA All-American.

Having entered the 2021-22 collegiate season with a best SCY time of 58.06, set in December 2020, Elendt was sub-58.1 on six occasions this past season, culminating with that 56.8 in the NCAA prelims before finishing fifth in the final (57.24).

Elendt will be the top seed in tonight’s A-Final, which includes Tokyo 2020 Olympians Lilly King and Annie Lazor. Elendt is also expected to race the 200 breaststroke (4th seed, 2:26.85) on Friday.

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