2026 GERMAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, April 23rd – Sunday, April 26th
- Berlin, Germany
- LCM (50m)
- Live Results
- Livestream
Over 600 of the country’s fastest swimmers are competing for titles at the 2026 German Championships, which kicked off today in Berlin and span through Sunday, April 26th. Athletes are vying for berths on the German roster for this year’s European Championshps and European Junior Championships.
Making the grade right off the bat was 2024 Olympic champion and reigning world record holder Lukas Märtens.
24-year-old Märtens took on his signature 400m freestyle this evening, stopping the clock at a masterful effort of 3:41.76, securing his 8th national title in the event in the process.
His time represented a big-time season-best, overtaking his former result of 3:43.04 notched at the China Open last month.
In fact, Märtens’ performance this evening marked the 5th-swiftest of his prolific career.
Top 5 LCM 400 Freestyle Performances by Lukas Märtens
- 3:39.96 – April 2025
- 3:40.33 – April 2024
- 3:40.61 – May 2025
- 3:41.60 – April 2022
- 3:41.76 – April 2026
“We are a country with over 80 million people. To be the fastest among them, that really makes a difference, and you shouldn’t downplay that. We don’t have many competitions in Germany, so you have to make the most of them. I was hoping for a fast time, but I wasn’t sure if it would work out,” Märtens said happily after his race.
Domestic nemesis Sven Schwarz opted out of the final but set a European Championships-worthy time of 3:46.52 in the morning heats.
“As in the previous year, my concentration is entirely on the 800 meters; I want to deliver a top performance there,” 24-year-old Schwarz explained to the German Swimming Federation.
Märtens now ranks as the #2 swimmer in the world at the moment, nearly dethroning Chinese teenage sensation Zhang Zhanshuo.
2025-2026 LCM Men 400 FREE
SHORT
3:40.67
| 2 | Zhang Zhanshuo | CHN | 3:41.55 | 03/21 |
| 3 | Lukas Märtens | GER | 3:41.76 | 04/23 |
| 4 | Oliver Klemet | GER | 3:43.14 | 04/09 |
| 5 | Ryan ERISMAN | USA | 3:44.03 | 05/24 |
Thus far this season, Märtens has been a dominating 400m free force, having put up times of 3:50.87 followed by a swift 3:44.29 at the Bergen Swim Festival just last week.
In other men’s races on the evening, Kaii Winkler got it done for gold in the 100m butterfly.
The SG Neukölln Berlin athlete nabbed his first-ever national title in a time of 51.82, denying defening champion Luca Armbruster the gold.
Armbruster settled for silver just a hair behind in 51.85 while Bjorn Kammann rounded out the podium in 51.88 in the tightly-contested affair.
“I was in more pain than ever in the last few meters, but that’s what makes racing so much fun. Now we’ll hopefully push each other to break the 51-second barrier,” said Armbruster after the final.
After placing 4th in the 100m fly, Josha Salchow upgraded to gold in the 50m free, clocking a speedy result of 22.15.
That held off Martine Wrede who was next to the wall in 22.18, still achieving a European Championships-qualifying time for those under the age of 23.
Cedric Büssing (SG Essen) secured his fifth consecutive title in the 400m IM, with the 8th place finisher from the Olympic Games booking his European Championships ticket in 4:13.45.
He told the German Swimming Federation after his victory, “I’d like to be two and a half seconds faster there [at the Euro Championships]. Returning from the USA was definitely the right decision for me.”
On the women’s side, Lasse Frank-trained world champion Angelina Köhler proved too quick to catch in the 100m fly and the 50m free.
25-year-old Köhler hit times of 56.35 in the former and 24.81 in the latter to top the podium in both and further solidify herself as the top German female at the moment.
“I’ve trained very hard these past few months. So it’s great that it’s paying off and working out so well,” said Köhler. “We’ve basically gone back to basics. Last season I worked a lot on starts, turns, and the underwater phase – those are working really well now. But I just couldn’t get to the finish. That’s why we’re swimming a bit more mileage again with harder sets,” she explained.
Olympic medalist Isabel Gose also stole the spotlight, taking the women’s 400m free in a super quick outing of 4:02.92. That sat just .80 off her own German national record put on the books at the Olympic Games.
“I’m often a bit self-critical. But considering I’m currently dealing with a shoulder issue and therefore didn’t get through the altitude training camp so well this time, 4:02 is really great!” she exclaimed.
Odd that he seems to swim fastest in April and May… any idea why?
Well, a certain Austrian painter’s birthday is in late April…
Germany usually has their selections in April, and he can’t afford the risk of not being fully tapered, considering how strong German distance swimming is. If this is a World Championships or Olympic year, he would not be selected for 800 free as Liebmann and Schwarz had better times in the selection period.
Yes, normally the races in which he’s safe are the 200 and 400 free, and even the 400 he can’t be in bad shape, considering that Liebmann and Klemet are already 3:43 and 3:44 swimmers, along with Wellbrock and almost Schwarz is there too
800 free is pretty interesting, 1.52.08 at the 200. Martens and Schwarz side by side.
400 at 3.49.91 with Martens still a little ahead
By the 500 Schwarz is ahead by 0.13
They are still side by side at the 600 with Mertens at 5.47.43
The last 100 is fairly fast with both swimmers next to each other.
Schwarz had the most speed of the last 15m and past Mertens to win with a 7.41.14 and Mertens had to settle for 2nd with a 7.41.31
5 active swimmers under 3:42. Add in the ever-consistent Kim, and if they’re all firing at Worlds in ’27 that will be a fantastic first race.
What will Schwarz produce in the 800? Can he break the ER again?
@SwimSwam:
Do you guys have any idea why Julian Koch doesn‘t compete at the german championships this week?
Will he represent some other Nation (UAE, USA, Cameroon) in the future?
I don’t, but I can ask!
Of note, many swimmers posted faster times in prelims to hit qualifying times for European Championships, then swam slower in the finals. Armbruster (heat time: 51.60), Winkler (51.73) and Kammann (51.78) all added times in the final, only Salchow (52.69) improved. Now Germany will have 4 swimmers entry in 100 fly at Euro. OSU student Cornelius Jahn broke a 3-year-old PB and under 54 seconds for the first time in the 100 back prelims (53.97), then added in finals (54.07).
Is there somewhere the qualifying guidelines for Germany are published?
Will there be any meets this year where Martens, Short and Zhang will race head-to-head?
There’s world SC in Beijing in November.
Dunno if Martens and Short will attend.
This event is so stacked surely someone’s gonna lop a chunk off the WR soon.
It took like 20 years post Thorpe for nonsuited and non doped up swimmers to enter to 3:41 consistently. I think we’re going to see small progress in this event which is fine.