2025 GERMAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, May 1st – Sunday, May 4th
- Berlin, Germany
- LCM (50m)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap
- Entries/Results
A monster men’s 1500m final concluded the 2025 German Swimming Championships as Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock fought off rising stars Sven Schwarz and Oliver Klemet.
27-year-old Wellbrock battled with newly-minted 800m free European Record holder Schwarz all the way to the final touch. The former stopped the clock at 14:36.25 and the latter settled for silver in 14:36.82.
Klemet was still in the mix but finished a couple of seconds behind in 14:39.03.
Wellbrock’s outing represents the 3rd-best time of his storied career, one which boasts a lifetime best and German national record of 14:34.89 from 2 years ago.
As for 23-year-old Schwarz, he followed up his 7:38.12 800m free stunner with a huge personal best in this longer event. Entering this competition, Schwarz had never been under the 14:40 threshold, owning a career-quickest result of 14:43.53 from when he earned silver in the event at the inaugural U23 Championships in 2023.
23-year-old Klemet also destroyed his best-ever performance prior to these championships. He, too, had never delved under the 14:40 barrier, owning a PB of 14:43.01 from the Swim Open Stockholm just last month.
Splits for the top 4 performers in tonight’s race are below:
While Wellbrock’s national record already situated him as the 7th-swiftest man in history, Schwarz now checks in as the #9 performer of all time.
Top 10 Men’s LCM 1500 Freestyle Performers All-Time
- Bobby Finke (USA), 14:30.67, 2024
- Sun Yang (CHN), 14:31.02, 2012
- Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN), 14:31.54, 2023
- Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 14:32.80, 2022
- Daniel Wiffen (IRL), 14:34.07, 2024
- Grant Hackett (AUS), 14:34.56, 2001
- Florian Wellbrock (GER), 14:34.89, 2023
- Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR), 14:36.10, 2022
- Sven Schwarz (GER), 14:36.82, 2025
- Ous Mellouli (TUN), 14:37.28, 2009
Wellbrock, Schwarz and Klemet now give Germany a monopoly on the top tier of the season’s world rankings.
2024-2025 LCM Men 1500 Free
Wellbrock
14:36.25
| 2 | Sven SCHWARZ | GER | 14:36.82 | 05/04 |
| 3 | Oliver Klemet | GER | 14:39.03 | 05/04 |
| 4 | Daniel Wiffen | IRL | 14.42.71 | 04/16 |
| 5 | Dávid BETLEHEM | HUN | 14:48.73 | 04/09 |
The women’s 800m free was also on tonight’s agenda, with 22-year-old Olympic medalist Isabel Gose putting on a clinic.
Gose got to the wall nearly 18 seconds ahead of her competitors, scoring a time of 8:20.42 for gold.
That is a new season-best, easily beating the 8:24.64 logged at the Swim Open Stockholm. Her personal best remains at the 8:17.53, which garnered her the silver medal at the 2024 World Championships.
Gose now checks in as the 5th-swiftest female on the planet at the moment.
2024-2025 LCM Women 800 Free
LEDECKY
WR 8:04.12
| 2 | Summer MCINTOSH | CAN | 8:09.86 | 02/13 |
| 3 | Lani PALLISTER | AUS | 8:18.71 | 04/21 |
| 4 | Yang Peiqi | CHN | 8:19.45 | 03/19 |
| 5 | Isabel Gose | GER | 8:20.42 | 05/04 |
On fire Angelina Köhler took on two events this evening, carrying away the gold in each.
The 24-year-old first raced in the 50m fly where she notched a winning effort of 25.86, within range of the 25.62 national record she put up just last week.
She then tried the 50m free on for size, where she grabbed gold in 24.90, touching simultaneously with Nina Holt.
Köhler was just off her lifetime best of 24.82 from the Swim Open Stockholm, however, Holt’s 24.90 is a new personal best.
Entering this competition, the 22-year-old had never been under the 25-second barrier. This performance pairs with her new PB of 53.81 in the 100m free from the Gaether & Friends Swim Meet last week.
Finally, reigning 400m free Olympic champion and world record holder Lukas Märtens demonstrated his versatility by topping the podium in the men’s 200m backstroke.
Märtens turned in a time of 1:56.00 to clear the field by over 2 seconds.
His outing fell just .03 outside his lifetime best of 1:55.97 from when he placed 8th at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Märtens’ effort this evening was inside the German qualification standard of 1:57.60 needed to add the event to his World Championships lineup.
Additional Notes
- Lucas Matzerath was too quick to catch in the men’s 200m breast, registering a time of 2:11.43. That eked out the win over Kenneth Bock who settled for silver just .16 behind in 2:11.59. The men were chasing a German Swimming Federation-mandated qualification time of 2:10.60 needed for Singapore.
- The men’s 50m free saw Josha Salchow double up on gold from his 100m free victory earlier in the meet. Salchow stopped the clock at 22.03 for a healthy advantage over Kaii Winkler‘s performance of 22.31. 19-year-old Winkler did establish a new German Age Record en route to silver. Moritz Schaller rounded out the podium in 22.49.
- Lisa Seidel was just off her season-best in the women’s 200m back, clocking 2:10.81 as the champion. She had been as fast as 2:10.76 already, a mark which qualified her for this summer’s World Championships.
- We reported how Anna Elendt lowered her own German national record in the women’s 200m breast to 2:23.54. You can read more about her achievement here.
- Luca Armbruster scored a new German national record of 22.92 in the men’s 50m fly, becoming the first-ever man from his nation to dip under the 23-second barrier in the event.
German World Championships qualifiers
* Qualified at these German Championships
| Qualified | Women | Event | Men | Qualified |
| 24.80 | 50m Free | 22.00 | ||
| Nina Holt, 53.81 | 54.20 | 100m Free | 48.20 | Josha Salchow, 48.02* |
| 1:57.10 | 200m Free | 1:46.30 | Lukas Märtens, 1:44.25* | |
| Isabel Gose, 4:03.65*
Maya Werner, 4:06.04* |
4:08.70 | 400m Free | 3:47.00 | Lukas Märtens, 3:39.96Oliver Klemet, 3:43.30 |
| Isabel Gose, 8:20.42 | 8:31.80 | 800m Free | 7:47.10 | Sven Schwarz, 7:38.12
Lukas Märtens, 7:39.10 Florian Wellbrock, 7:41.10 Oliver Klemet, 7:44.92 |
| Isabel Gose, 15:52.34* | 16:15.80 | 1500m Free | 14:57.50 | Florian Wellbrock, 14:36.25*
Sven Schwarz, 14:36.82* Oliver Klemet, 14:39.03*
Johannes Liebmann, 14:57.00 |
| Angelina Köhler, 56.33 | 58.00 | 100m Fly | 51.60 | Luca Armbruster, 51.21*Josha Salchow, 51.28* |
| 2:09.40 | 200m Fly | 1:55.70 | ||
| 59.90 | 100m Back | 53.50 | ||
| Lise Seidel, 2:10.76 | 2:11.50 | 200m Back | 1:57.60 | Lukas Märtens, 1:56.00* |
| Anna Elendt, 1:05.72* | 1:06.80 | 100m Breast | 59.70 | Melvin Imoudu, 59.11
Lucas Matzerath, 59.19 |
| Anna Elendt, 2:23.54* | 2:25.60 | 200m Breast | 2:10.60 | |
| 2:11.40 | 200m IM | 1:58.10 | ||
| 4:41.90 | 400m IM | 4:15.50 | Cedric Büssing, 4:13.56* |
*All relays have qualified for the World Championships.
I remember when we all thought Florian was to be the first man under 14:30. Do we think he has a shot at it during Worlds? Especially with the fantastic swims he’s been putting up.
No. I don’t think he gets under 14:30. That’s Finke’s domain. The Paris pool seemed to be slow, and overall conditions for an Olympic Games were far from optimal. That said, the 1500 final should be the fastest in history. Finke, Paltrinieri (if he’s in form), Dan Wiffen, Wellbrock, Schwarz, ….Jaouadi, & Tunicelli (both very young with big time drops last year)…could all play a role in producing the first all sub 14:40 final if one other swimmer can dip below.
I think we’ll see Florian win the 10k. Singapore will be quite warm, and Florian showed us he is fantastic in those conditions at the Tokyo Olympics. He’s actually swimming better now than he was then. That was… Read more »
No one ever believed that. And no, he will choke, as usual.
The Magdeburg swimmers have been tremendous for a while (Wellbrock, Klemet, Van Rouwendaal, Moesha Johnson, Martens). I think Schwarz trains in Hanover, but I’m not 100% sure.
Regarding distance swimmers, Andreas Waschburger is the current English Channel world record holder. He trains in Saarbrucken near the French border.
Sven Schwarz – Hannover – correct!
I think Isabel Gose is in Magdeburg as well. Not 100% sure.
She was in the last quad, unless she’s moved recently.
They’re doing it right. The results speak for themselves.
That said, most humans can’t do what Van Rouwendaal (and other high volume trainers) has done. She’s hit as high as 110k during peaks. Remarkable longevity, especially after the years with Philippe Lucas, who is notorious for challenging swimmers beyond their limits. She won the Rio 10k in 2016 with a bad shoulder injury.
crazy
Man going sub 14:40 and not making your respective national team. Crazy times.
What is going on with German swimming? They are killing it.
In just long distance freestyles. No other strokes. And with only the men.
Isabel Gose was Olympic bronze medalist in women’s 1500 and SC world champion.
Since when is the 200 free a long distance event?
Wow.
Fastest ever country-level final.
Germany is echoing Australia men’s distance of the 90s
Just by eyeballing the splits, it looks like the top 3 all averaged a couple tenths faster on the odd 50s…
It’s giving 4 x 1500m