Paul Biedermann Swims World Leading 200 Free To Close German Championships

On the last day of the German National Championships in Berlin, Paul Biedermann, who was disappointed with his 100 free swim yesterday, swam to a new seasonal world best time in 1:45.60. His split times: 25,49; 52,12; 1:18,6ß; 1:45,60.

2014-2015 LCM Men 200 Free

JamesGBR
GUY
08/04
1.45.14
2Sun
YANG
CHN1.45.2008/04
3Ryan
LOCHTE
USA1.45.3608/03
4Paul
BIEDERMANN
GER1.45.3808/04
5Kousuke
HAGINO
JPN1.45.8204/09
View Top 26»

Marco Koch posted the 3rd time in the world so far this year in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:09.72. The German Swimming Federation (DSW) granted Biedermann, Koch and the absent Steffen Deibler (absent in Berlin because of illness) a special bonus, so they are already nominated for the Kazan roster. Because of the pre-nomination for the the so called “Elite Squad”, Koch said at a press conference earlier this week that he is going to swim the championship meet without special preparation.

2014-2015 LCM Men 200 Breast

MarcoGER
KOCH
08/07
2.07.76
2Yasuhiro
KOSEKI
JPN2.07.7704/11
3Kevin
CORDES
USA2.08.0508/07
4Daniel
GYURTA
HUN2.08.1008/07
5Adam
PEATY
GBR2.08.3404/14
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Sprint specialist Dorothea Brandt took the 50 m freestyle in 24.84. Other swimmers who reached the requested nomination times at the German Nationals and now must confirm their swims at another meet before early July are:

  • Alexandra Wenk, 100 fly in 58.18
  • Christian vom Lehn 200 breaststroke in 2:11.13
  • Vanessa Grimberg on the 200 breaststroke in 2:26.45
  • Jenny Mensing 100 backstroke in 1:00.47

So far it seems that some events are going to start in Kazan without German swimmers because these 2015 German national champions didn’t reach the cuts on the last day:

  • Markus Gierke, 100 fly in 53.41
  • Annika Bruhn, 200 free in 1:58.55
  • Jan-Philip Glania, 100 back in 54.47
  • Christian Diener, 100 back in 54.52

26 swimmers made the cuts for Kazan in the first step of the qualifying process. Head Coach Lambertz will keep up all options to send all relays to Kazan – even though the German qualification times haven’t been reached.

The four days of the German national championships had a lot of ups and downs – world class swims like the ones from Paul Biedermann (200 free), Marco Koch (200 breast), Jacob Heidtmann (400 IM), Isabelle Härle (1500 free) all swam well. But on the other side some tops swimmers like Christian Diener failed to reach the nomination. As the German Head Coach emphasized in an interview, he is working with long-term concepts to get more performance stability and density in German Swimming.

Paul Biedermann

Paul Biedermann

Marco Koch

Marco Koch

Eileen Alice Diener

Eileen Alice Diener

Crimson Tide

Paul Biedermann

Paul Biedermann

Texas A&M's Schuchardt

Texas A&M’s Schuchardt

Texas A&M's Schuchardt

Texas A&M’s Schuchardt

SSE Start Start Brustschwimmen

Paul Biedermann

Paul Biedermann

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aswimfan
9 years ago

The men 200 free is among the most open race in Kazan. But if Agnel is anywhere near his best, he’ll take it hands down. It’s a pity his speed was destroyed during his stunt at NBAC where he trained for 400.

Dee
9 years ago

No jaw-dropping times as expected – Biedermann & Koch are the only medal contenders for Kazan but the future looks bright for German swimming. Women’s mid-distance & distance freestyle is the strongest it has been since the days of Henke & Kielgass which extended into the Stockbauer, Buchse & Kamrau era.

thomaslurzfan
Reply to  Dee
9 years ago

S. Deibler could also have a chance to win a medal, but it depends on how strong he will return. If he will be as fast as in 2013 (51.19), he will fight for a medal. At this point of the rebuild the number of medals is not really important. Im more interested in the number of athletes in finals. In 2013 we only had 4 athletes in individual finals (Koch 2nd in mens 200 m breast, S. Deibler 4th in mens 100 fly, Brandt 8th in womens 50 free, Steffen 6th in womens 100 free). Biedermann didnt compete at 2013 wc and Steffen retired, so you could say that more than 4 individual finals would be an improvement.
… Read more »

Philip Johnson
9 years ago

Impressive swim by Biedermann, the “old” man still has it.

thomaslurzfan
9 years ago

Here are the most promising times (in my opinion) by young swimmers (only olympic distances):

Beck (1997) 800 free: 8.27.37
Köhler (1994) 800 free: 8.28.23
Bermel (1998) 1500 free: 15.21.06
Siebrecht (1997) 400 IM: 4.43.44
Wolters (1999) 400 IM: 4.46.80
Mrozinski (2000) 400 IM: 4.48.60
Rieder (2001) 400 IM: 4.53.76
Heidtmann (1994) 400 IM: 4.13.28
Hintze (1999) 400 IM: 4.16.58
Wedel (1994) 400 IM: 4.16.63
Brandt (1998) 400 free: 3.53.76
Köhler (1994) 400 free: 4.07.00
Vogel (1994) 400 free: 3.46.53

Höpink (1998) 200 fly: 2.13.14, she swum 2.12.68 (and 59.93 in 100 fly) at junior european championships last year.

Mrozinski (2000) 200 fly: 2.13.49
Kunert (1996) 200… Read more »

Kylecw
9 years ago

Didn’t see this fast 200 free coming after that 100

Hulk Swim
9 years ago

Interesting he was only 49.8 but still went 145.6… I am intrigued by the idea of him and a few others getting a pass… he can keep his training loads up and keep his eyes on Kazan. This is a promising swim.

thomaslurzfan
Reply to  Hulk Swim
9 years ago

Actually he was 49.2 yesterday, which is still pretty slow, compared to his 48.31 last year at the same meet. He said that he still needs to improve his 100 free until kazan. I think he will swim at least 48.8 by then, maybe he will then be even faster at 200 free. Biedermann completely changed his “style” in the last 2 years, he doesnt want to swim in the waves of guys like agnel or yang anymore, so he swims his first 100 clearly faster than he used to. It wouldve been interesting to see his 400 free, although i think that he wont have a medal chance at 400 free anyway, so he should focus on 200 free.

sven
Reply to  thomaslurzfan
9 years ago

I’m going to be honest, I haven’t paid attention to Biedermann since 2009, so I’m not as familiar with his racing strategies. How did he split it before if that was going out fast? He was 52.1 and 53.5 for this swim, which is pretty even. Take it out too much slower and you might negative split.

sven
Reply to  sven
9 years ago

For reference, Sun Yang and Kosuke Hagino, who also went 1:45’s, were 51.90 and 51.52 at the 100, respectively. If anything, it seems like Biedermann’s strategy is to go out smoother and crush the back half as opposed to going out faster.