It’s three days out from the beginning of the pool competition, and FINA has still inexplicably not released start lists, but Britta Steffen has declined the offer to swim the 50 free at the World Championships, according to faz.net.
This will be the second-straight World Championship that will be without Steffen after she similarly declined a chance in 2011.
Steffen is the World Record holder in the event, but after battling some illness at Germany’s National Championships, it took a decision by the DSV (German federation) to allow her an entry in this event.
This means that Daniela Schreiber and Dorothea Brandt will become the two German representatives, according to High Performance Director Lutz Buschkow, while Steffen swims the 100 free and focuses on the relays.
That doesn’t mean the Germans are totally without medal hopes in the event: Brandt won the German title in 24.51, which is ranked 5th in the world this year.
