The German Swimming Federation has released the list of 24 swimmers that they will be sending to the World Championships this summer in Shanghai, with the possibility of two more earning bids. This number is well above the 18 that German National Team coach Dirk Lange had expected to take, even though only 11 surpassed the tough qualifying standards. The rest of the roster was filled with relay swimmers and young hopefuls who are destined for stardom, but need more big-meet experience before tackling the Olympics.
Two of the swimmers on the list, national star Steffen Deibler and breaststroker Marco Koch, have been included in the roster on a provisional basis, but will need to swim well at the Paris Open, which runs June 25th and 26th: the last weekend before World Championship entries are due.
Deibler was the tough-luck runner up in the men’s 100 fly, where he swam a 52.32 to rank 8th in the world. Benjamin Starke won that race in a world-leading 51.65. Deibler also missed the qualifying mark in the 50 fly, but his 23.46 puts him 5th in the world. Koch was the top seed after prelims in the men’s 200 breaststroke, but pulled out of the final on Sunday due to lingering back problems. He will see a specialist this week and have an MRI to determine whether or not he can return to training before the Paris Open.
(Update: Steffen Deibler has made the roster, Marco Koch has not).
Women
Dorothea Brandt
Britta Steffen
Lisa Vitting
Sina Sutter
Silke Lippok
Franziska Jansen
Daniela Schreiber
Jenny Mensing
Sarah Poewe
Men
Steffen Deibler*
Markus Deibler
Hendrik Feldwehr
Jan David Schepers
Benjamin Starke
Tim Wallburger
Helge Meeuw
Christian Kubusch
Christian vom Lehn
Christoph Fildebrandt
Yannick Lebherz
Marco Koch*
Paul Biedermann
Marco Di Carli
Clemens Rapp
*pending results of Paris Open
