German Sarah Köhler set a new short course record (25 m) in the 1500 m freestyle on Friday at the first edition of the Meeuw Cup in Wiesbaden, Germany.
She improved the 35-year-old record set by Petra Schneider in 1982. Köhler touched the wall on Friday in 15:39,74, Schneider’s old German SC record stood at 15:43,31.
Köhler also holds four more German records:
400m freestyle, SC, 4:01,03
800 m freestyle, SC, 8:12,45
400 m freestyle, LC, 4:03,96
1500 m freestyle, LC, 15:59,85
Sarah Köhler failed to make it into the German National Team for the 2017 LC World Championships in Budapest but perhaps she will get a chance to compete at the SC European Championships in December in Copenhagen. The German Team for this event hasn’t been announced yet.
Köhler won the gold medal in the 400 m Freestyle at the 2017 Summer Universiade in 4:03,6 (LC), this also was a German record.
Is the meet named after Helge Meeuw, his parents, grandparents or someone else?
Yes, the Meeuw family are supporters of the swim Club SC Wiesbaden and they also have had many great swimmers in different generations: Helge, I think you know him and his father Folkert – German Champion, European Champion with German relays and Helge’s mother Jutta who participated in the Olympic Games 1972 and won two bronze medals as a member of relays.
These are all very respectable times! The German qualifying standards are quite tough, yes?
German qualifying standards are tough but in 2018 the swimmers have a qualilification period, which will last from January 22nd to April 29th, 2018. In 2017 it was only possible to qualify at the German Nats in July and there Sarah was far away from her best shape. She set the LC records in the 400 m and 1500 m later in 2017 during the Universiade. And these are faster than the nomination standards for 2018.
Always good to see a GDR-era record go down.