HEIDELBERG GERMAN OLYMPIC QUALIFYING MEET
- April 3 – April 4. 2021
- Heidelberg, Germany
- Long Course Meters (LCM)
- Meet Page
- Start lists / Results
During the second day of prelims at Germany’s Heidelberg Olympic Qualification meet, no swimmers swam under the Olympic selection standard in their events. That’s a difference from day 1 prelims during which David Thomasberger and Fabian Schwingenschlögl swam under the standard in the 200 butterfly and 100 breaststroke, respectively, with Schwingenschlögl also setting a new national record in the breast with a 58.95.
As a refresher, the Olympic standards, German records, and already qualified swimmers in each Olympic event are as follows:
| Women | Men | |||||
| Already qualified for Tokyo | German Record | German Olympic norm | Event | German Olympic norm | German Record | Already qualified for Tokyo |
| 23.73 | 24.75 | 50 freestyle | 21.95 | 21.81 | ||
| 52.07 | 54.10 | 100 freestyle | 48.50 | 48.24 | ||
| 1:55.68 | 1:57.20 | 200 freestyle | 1:46.70 | 1:42.00 | ||
| 4:03.96 | 4:07.50 | 400 freestyle | 3:46.40 | 3:40.07 | ||
| Sarah Köhler | 8:16.43 | 8:30.00 | 800 freestyle | 7:50.00 | 7:43.03 | Florian Wellbrock |
| Sarah Köhler | 15:48.83 | 16:16.00 | 1500 freestyle | 14:59.00 | 14:36.15 | Florian Wellbrock |
| 1:07.01 | 1:07.00 | 100 breaststroke | 59.80 | 59.15 | ||
| 2:25.00 | 2:24.90 | 200 breaststroke | 2:09.90 | 2:07.47 | Marco Koch | |
| Laura Riedemann | 59.77 | 1:00.00 | 100 backstroke | 53.70 | 52.27 | |
| 2:07.63 | 2:09.50 | 200 backstroke | 1:57.00 | 1:55.87 | ||
| 57.70 | 57.90 | 100 butterfly | 51.80 | 51.19 | Marius Kusch | |
| Franziska Hentke | 2:05.26 | 2:08.20 | 200 butterfly | 1:56.30 | 1:55.76 | |
| 2:11.33 | 2:11.90 | 200 IM | 1:59.40 | 1:55.76 | Philip Heintz | |
| 4:36.10 | 4:38.40 | 400 IM | 4:15.00 | 4:12.08 | Jacob Heidtmannn | |
Swimmers who weren’t able to hit the selection standards this morning will have another shot during the finals session.
While no one got under the Olympic cut, a number of competitors managed to dip under the selection standard for European Championships which will be held next month.
Kim Herkle followed up her 100 breast win on day 1 with a 2:26.19 in the 200 breaststroke prelim which trails the Olympic cut of 2:24.90 by less than 2 seconds but is quicker than the 2:27.80 she needed to qualify for Euros. Kellie Messel and Magdalena Heimrath were a few seconds slower than Herkle in the prelims, posting a 2:30.89 and 2:33.52 for second and third seed, respectively.
In the men’s 100 backstroke Marek Ulrich secured the top seed heading into tonight’s final with a 54.31. That’s just under the 54.65 it takes to qualify for European Championships but not quite the 53.70 he needs to book his ticket to Tokyo. Notably, 2016 Olympian Christian Diener was entered in the event but ultimately scratched.
Marie Pietruschka dipped under the 2-minute mark in the event with a 1:59.08, just 0.22 quicker than the 1:59.30 Euros qualification standard. Leonie Kullmann, who qualified for the Olympic team on day 1 in the 400 freestyle wasn’t too far behind Pietruschka, posting a 2:00.47 prelim swim while Annika Bruhn hit a 2:00.68 in the event for third seed. Bruhn nearly made the Olympic team yesterday by swimming a 54.51 100 freestyle prelim which was just over the required 54.10.
Pietruschka, Kullmann, and Bruhn will race the 200 freestyle final tonight, battling to hit the 1:57.20 they need to make the German Olympic team.
The fourth swimmer to get under the Euros cut during day 2 prelims was Jessica Felsner in the 50 freestyle. Felsner swam the only sub-26 swim in the women’s 50 free prelims, touching in a 25.28 to get under the Euros cut of 25.30 by just 0.02 seconds. Tonight, she will look to swim under a 24.75 in the event to qualify for the Olympics which will require a PB from Felsner as she has only ever been as fast as a 24.91 back in 2019.
On the men’s side, Artem Selin posted a 23.03 which was just over a second slower than the 21.95 it will take to qualify for Tokyo and within a second of the 22.35 European Championships cut. Another 3 swimmers got under 24 in the event in the form of Stefano Razeto (23.29), Lukas Klos (23.32), and Ole Mats Eidam (23.91).
David Thomasberger couldn’t quite repeat his Olympic-qualifying performance in the 200 butterfly from yesterday as he was 1.41 seconds slower than the 51.80 he needed in the 100 butterfly. Thomasberger was a 53.21 in the prelim and will have another shot at qualification tonight.
On the women’s side of the event, Lara Seifert hit a 1:02.14 for the top prelims swim which is just over 3 seconds slower than the 57.90 Olympic cut. Lilli Gerth and Carolin Morassi followed Seifert in the prelims with a 1:03.26 and 1:03.28, respectively.
Other Top Prelim Swims
- Timo Sorgius was a 1:54.56 in the men’s 200 freestyle which is nearly 8 seconds off the Olympic cut
- In the men’s 200 breast, Yannis Merlin Willim was a 2:14.74 to lead the field, trailing the 2:09.90 needed to qualify for Tokyo
- Nadine Laemmler (1:01.57) and Johanna Roas (1:01.90) got within 2 seconds of the 100 backstroke Olympic cut (1:00.00)
- Zoe Vogelmann lead the 400 IM prelim field with a 4:49.01 but was still 11 seconds off the 4:38.40 Olympic standard
- Ramon Klenz swam a 2:06.67 200 IM, missing the 1:59.40 cut for Tokyo
