Let’s start day 3 by examining the interesting format of the German National Championships. Unlike what we see in most championship-style meets (where the prelims are in the morning session and the finals that same evening), Germany groups all of their preliminary swims on the weekdays, and then beginning tomorrow (Friday) will launch an all-out assault on handing out the hardware.
While there are some obvious problems with this set-up — for example, it forces top swimmers into maximum exertion more times in a shorter period of time — I think it’s absolutely brilliant for the fan-base. At German Nationals, the fans can focus their attentions on a weekend of fast swimming, without having to stay out late on a work-night, and see their favorite swimmers multiple times in the same session. Can you imagine what kind of response USA Swimming meets might get if fans could expect to see Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps, and Natalie Coughlin race two-to-three finals in each of the major sessions, and at peak performance at that? It would be huge, and I think would lead to a major uptick in attendance at these National Championship type of meets, and would additionally make a much more compelling case for live-tv audiences.
It really comes down to an issue of whether swimmers and coaches are willing to sacrafice performance for increased marketability, and that can only be argued as a matter of philosophy.
Now on to the swimming: in the only final on the third day of competition, Katharina Schiller won the women’s 400 IM in 4:46.08. That was off of the career-best time for the 26-year old Schiller, and I had hoped for a bit better for the Olympic veteran who is likely on her last Olympic cycle. (I’d like to point out that Schiller has just about the best personal swimmer websites on the net. Don’t miss the water dripping off of her swimsuit on the home page.)
Prelims Action
One of the better prelims performances came from Silke Lippok, who is the future of German swimming and rapidly becoming one of my favorite Europeans (more on that during Friday’s final). She moved to 11th in the world rankings this year with a 1:57.42 in the women’s 200 free, which sets a German Age Record for 17-year olds. As a confirmation of her returned conditioning, sprinter Britta Steffen, who is the top seed in both the 50 and the 100 freestyles, swam a 1:59.25 to take the second seed. That stands as the third-fastest time of her career, and is only four-tenths off of her best from 2008.
As was foreshadowed after yesterday’s 50 fly, the elder Steffen Deibler matched his sprint speed with a rock-solid 100 fly time of 52.32 that places him 7th in the world rankings this year (though STILL off of the German qualifying time). He was pushed by 2009 World Championship semi-finalist Benjamin Starke in 52.35, a mark that ties him for 8th in the world (with Aussie Geoff Huegill). The 100 fly is shaping up to be one of the few events where the Germans could qualify two for this summer’s World Championships. Also of note, LSU standout Hannes Heyl was 3rd in 53.56.
The best (by world rankings anyways) performance on the day was probably the least expected. 20-year old Jan David Schepers swam a 1:59.03 in the 200 IM prelims (a career-best time by more than 2 seconds) to stamp his ticket to Shanghai. That swim marks him as 6th-best in the world this year. He probably was expecting a good swim, but to go that fast in prelims had to surprise even him. Markus Deibler placed second in 2:02.53. Deibler is a swimmer on the rise, but I was surprised he wasn’t a little better in this race based on his third-seed in the 200 (1:48.78) earlier in the session.
Oddly, Yannick Lebherz, the National Record holder, didn’t swim this event despite a great, top-8 (and National Record breaking) performance to win the 400 IM. He sat out the 200 IM in favor of the 200 back, where he took the top seed (and 15th rank) in the world in 1:58.61 (the qualifying mark is 1:57.45).
The 200 freestyle saw another lackluster prelims swim from Paul Bidermann, who finished 2nd in 1:48.36, which was just behind Tim Wallburger’s top seed of 1:48.34. The qualifying mark is a blistering 1:47.01, and based on David Rieder and Tom Willdridge’s assertions that the 200 will be his bigger focus headed towards London, I’m becoming more-and-more confident (perhaps foolishly) that he’s just been loafing his way through prelims to save the fatigue for the finals. As has been said many times, you can’t doubt a World Record holder, regardless of the suit, until he’s proven himself down for the count.
Helge Meeuw had two prelims swims on the day, though neither came close to matching his 53.67 in the 100 back. He took the third-seed in the 200 back (2:02.40), and was a little better in the 50 (25.48) where he’s the top seed.
Tune back tomorrow, where a full slate of 11 individual champions, and two relay champions, will be decided.
For full results, visit here and click “Tag 3″ for day 3 results. Let us know if you can’t decipher the results, and we’ll help out!
Translations:
Freistil = Freestyle
Rucken = Backstroke
Brust = Breaststroke
Scmetterling = Butterfly
Lagen = IM
Frauen = Women
Männer = Men
Finale = Final
Vorlauf = Preliminary
Tag = Day
Abschmitt = Session
Startliste = Start List
Ergbenis = Results
It seems the format also would open the door for some of the superstars to get beat in their best events too (especially if they race multiple times in each finals session). This, too, would be fun for the fans….everyone loves an underdog 🙂