Sprint News 4/26/2012: Top German Swimmer Hurt; Mellouli in Open Water

…German-language swimming website SwimSportNews.de is reporting that German breaststroker Henrik Feldwehr might be out for the German Olympic Trials that kick off on May 10th in Berlin. He is reportedly battling injuries to his hip and groin, and as we saw at last night’s Maria Lenk Trophy day 1 finals, that can be devestating to a breaststroker. Feldwehr was a huge part of the German 400 medley relay at last year’s World Championships and helped them earn a bronze medal in the event with a split of 59.72. Germany may issue special waivers in the event that he is unable to go either in Berlin or at the European Championships a week later, but it wouldn’t necessarily be a huge blow to their shot at repeating a medal if he wasn’t there. Christian vom Lehn was actually faster from a flat-start (1:00.51) last year, though Feldwehr seems to have big potential based on his 50-meter speed…

…as the Americans prepare for their open water nationals this coming weekend, Canada named their entrants for the Olympic Qualifying event in Portugal in early June following a FINA World Cup race in Cancun on Tuesday. They will send Nadine Williams to compete in the women’s race, thanks to her 13th-place finish in Mexico in what she called a “violent race”. Xavier Desharnais was 15th and will represent the Canadian men there. The men’s and women’s race were won by Germany’s Thomas Lurz, one of the world’s best, and Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil, respectively. Canada has some decent open water infrastructure, and host a lot of big events (including August’s World Junior Open Water championships), but haven’t caught on with their own swimmers much. They didn’t have great finishes at Worlds, and didn’t even get entries at the 2008 Olympics…

…At that same race, Tunisian Ous Mellouli, who trains in the United States at USC, made his open water debut. The 2008 Olympic Champion in the 1500 finished 11th in his first crack at the waves, 16-seconds behind the winners. Could this be a shift of focus for Mellouli? One would guess not, at least before the Olympics. But perhaps after London he will give it serious thought, as open water swimmers tend to take careers deeper into their 30’s than do pool swimmers (Mellouli is 28). Full results here…

…Roland Schoeman (50 free), Charl Crous (100 back), and Suzaan van Biljon (200 breast) have been put on the list of swimmers that Swimming South Africa is requiring to prove their performances to make the Olympic Team, despite earning FINA “A” cuts at last week’s National Championship meet. That means that Swimming South Africa is sticking to their guns of requiring swimmers to post their A-cuts at two separate meets. The deadline is May 15th, so swimmers will have until then to do so in any FINA-sanctioned meet (not just official Olympic Qualifying sanctioned meets). Expect the swimmers to try and ride their hot-hands by swimming in meets that come up very soon; possibilities include the upcoming Charlotte Grand Prix in early May…