2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
- Meet site
- Competition Schedule
- FinaTV Live Stream
- Entry Lists
- Results
Germany’s Sarah Köhler took fourth overall in the finals of the women’s 800 free at the 2019 FINA World Championships Saturday night in Gwangju, taking down a record seven years older than she is.
Köhler, 25, went 8:16.43, taking four seconds off her previous best of 8:20.53 from 2018. She shaved more than three seconds off the prior German record, set by Anke Möhring at 8:19.53 in 1987.
The 2016 Olympian Köhler was 8:22.95 in prelims, which made her the No. 6 seed heading into finals. Katie Ledecky took gold Saturday in 8:13.58, Simona Quadrella was second in 8:14.99, and Ariarne Titmus was third in 8:15.70.
Earlier in the meet, Köhler obliterated the German record in the 1500 free and dropped nine second from her lifetime best to take silver behind Quadrella in the Ledecky-less final. She was 15:57.85 in prelims and 15:48.83 in finals. She was also part of Germany’s gold medal performance in the open water team event before the pool racing started.
Great to see an old East German record get smashed