Heidelburg German Olympic Qualifying Meet
- April 3 – April 4. 2021
- Heidelburg, Germany
- Long Course Meters (LCM)
- Meet Page
- Start lists / results
On the first of 2 days of racing at the Heidelburg German Olympic qualifier, two swimmers added their names to the Olympic roster as David Thomasberger, Fabian Schwingenschlögl, and Leonie Kullmann got under the Olympic qualification standards in the 200 butterfly and 100 freestyle, respectively.
In the 200 butterfly, Thomasberger broke his own national record of 1:55.51 which he swam in the prelims with a finals swim of 1:55.04. Not only did he swim a new national record in the event twice today, but Thomasberger also got under the Olympic qualification time of 1:56.30 with both his prelims and finals swims, earning a spot on Germany’s Olympic squad this summer.
This will be Thomasberger’s first Olympic appearance and he’ll have a shot at improving upon his 20th place finish in the 200 fly at the 2019 World Championships. There, he couldn’t quite make it past the prelims with his 1:57.31.
The swim of 1:55.04 also gives Thomasberger the 4th fastest swim worldwide this season behind Kristóf Milák’s 1:51.40, Federico Burdisso’s 1:54.41, and Tamas Kenderesi’s 1:54.64.
2020-2021 LCM Men 200 Fly
Milak
1:51.10
| 2 | Tomoru Honda | JPN | 1:53.73 | 07/28 |
| 3 | Federico Burdisso | ITA | 1:54.28 | 05/19 |
| 4 | Tamas Kenderesi | HUN | 1:54.37 | 05/18 |
| 5 | Eddie Wang | TPE | 1:54.44 | 07/26 |
The second Olympic qualifier on day 1 of the meet was Fabian Schwingenschlögl who hit a 58.95 in the 100 breast to get under the required mark of 59.80. The swim was also quick enough to set a new German record in the event, beating Hendrik Feldwehr’s 2009 record of 59.15. Schwingenschlögl actually got under the qualification time twice, swimming a 59.20 in the prelims.
This is also Schwingenschlögl’s first Olympic qualification and interestingly, he, like Thomasberger placed 20th in his event at 2019 Worlds. Two years ago Schwingenschlögl swam the 100 breast in Gwangju and posted a 1:00.12 prelim swim for 20th.
The swim for Schwingenschlögl makes him the 6th fastest 100 breaststroker worldwide this season.
2020-2021 LCM Men 100 Breast
Peaty
57.37
| 2 | Arno Kamminga | NED | 57.80 | 07/24 |
| 3 | Michael Andrew | USA | 58.14 | 06/13 |
| 4 | Nicolo Martinenghi | ITA | 58.28 | 07/25 |
| 5 | Ilya Shymanovich | BLR | 58.46 | 05/17 |
| 6 | Nic Fink | USA | 58.50 | 06/13 |
Leonie Kullmann raced to victory in the 400 freestyle by swimming a 4:07.44, just out-swimming the Olympic standard in the event of 4:07.50, allowing her to make her first-ever Olympic team by just 0.06 seconds.
David Thomasberger and Fabian Schwingenschlögl and Leonie Kullmann‘s addition to the roster make it a 11-strong team thus far:
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 Heidtmannn – 400 IM
- David Thomasberger – 200 butterfly *NEW
- Fabian Schwingenschl̦gl Р100 breast *NEW
- Â Leonie Kullmann – 400 freestyle *NEW
Christian Diener swam a 1:58.79 to win the 200 backstroke which was slower than his swim this morning of 1:57.99, as well as the Olympic standard 1:57.00.
Annika Bruhn was even closer in the women’s 100 freestyle, swimming a 55.00 for the gold medal to get within a second of the 54.10 it would take to make the team. Like Diener, Bruhn was also faster during the prelims, having hit a 54.51 during the morning session.
Timo Sorgius won the 100 freestyle event for the men with a swim of 51.10. Notably, Josha Salchow and Marek Ulrich were absent from the final, having tied for top seed in the prelims by both swimming a 50.06. All three of them trailed the Olympic cut of 48.50.
In the women’s 1500 freestyle, Celine Rieder wasn’t too far off the 16:16.00 it would have taken to make the Olympic team as she hit a 16:21.00 for the victory.
Other Day 1 Winners
- Louis Dramm was victorious in the men’s 400 freestyle with a 3:58.25.
- The women’s 100 breast went to Kim Herkle with a 1:09.17.
- Jenny Mensing was a 2:13.65 for gold in the women’s 200 back.
Schwingen his schogl better then ever.
Two additions:
1) I am not sure if Kullmann is already “safe”. I think Gose is almost certain to swim faster than her and if any other woman does it, she is out.
2) Zoe Vogelmann (born in 2003) swam an age group record of 2:12.12 and almost made the qualification mark of 2:11.90. She might try to get there at one of the other meetings in the next two weeks. Her old PB was 2:12.97 from last month.
Here is a personal “summary” for people who don’t follow german swimming:
Athletes who could qualify today in my opinion (if they are at their best, thanks to COVID it is impossible to say what everyone is capable of these days*):
Men’s 50 free: Artem Selin (his 100 free yesterday didn’t look encouraging, but let’s see)
Men’s 100 back: Ole Braunschweig
Men’s 200 breast: Maximilian Pilger
Women’s 50 free: Jessica Felsner
Women’s 800 free: Celine Rieder
Women’s 200 breast: Kim Emily Herkle
Women’s 100 fly: Angelina Köhler
Athletes who competed yesterday and didn’t manage to qualify, but might still qualify later on (in my opinion*):
Men’s 200 fly: Ramon Klenz
Men’s… Read more »
Man I still remember when Kitajima crushed a 58.91 and how special it seemed.
Now everyone’s going 58 lol. Good stuff!
This is becoming a big question for the Americans to answer at Trials: do they have a 58? Seems like every other major swimming nation is finding one.
On paper the talent is there.
What’s crazy is 2016 was the first trials that it took sub-minute to make the team! Realistically, it will probably “only” take 59 low to make it this year, BUT it wouldn’t be crazy if third place went a 58 with MA, Wilson, and Miller (and others) competing. And even IF third place went 58.9, it would still be a very weak event for the US, since 1 and 2 arent going 58 mid-low.
My bullish prediction: 3 swimmers between 58.8-59.0.
Fun fact: Cordes got 3rd at trials in 2012 when he was 18. Does he still have a 58 in him? I’d say no, but… what if?
I think the US has easily 3 or 4 guys who could do it, the question is if they could do it without too many dolphin kicks. I am sure that Peaty doesn’t have to use an illegal technique to go sub 59, but i am not sure about everyone else.
..Here comes LEZAK!!
FINA should award a medal to the announcer who says his last name correctly
I don’t think it’s really that difficult of a name to say. If you hear it once, it’s pretty comfortable to repeat.
Chris Hindmarch-Watson from 🇨🇦 will nail it no prob!
Every German, Austrian, Swiss, Luxembourgish, Dutch and Danish announcer would win that medal then. It’s just the ö that’s tricky for English native speakers… but it’s not a very hard name to pronounce.
Great swim Fabian!
Seems Diener won’t quite hit the heights once thought. Been stagnant for a few years.
Sadly this is probably true, he always was much better short course. I think he isn’t among the tallest guys in backstroke, so this might be a bit of a disadvantage for him.
Another 58, fantastic swim!