The Danish Swimming Union (Dansk Svømmeunion) has announced its 12-strong line-up for this summer’s World Championships in Gwangju, Korea. The squad was selected from the Danish Open and Stockholm Open, with Olympic Champion Pernille Blume receiving special assignment to the team.
“Pernille’s coaches, Team Denmark and The Danish Swimming Federation made the decision together with Pernille Blume that is would be best for her restoration to not participate in Danish Open this year,” the federation told SwimSwam earlier this month.
Also making the team is Jeanette Ottesen, the new mama who gave birth in December 2017 and has been getting back into the groove of elite international racing just this year. She competed at the Edinburgh International Meet and also snagged a 50m fly Worlds qualifying time at the Stockholm Open.
Anton Ipsen is another strong member of the team, having fired off 2 national records at the Danish Open. The former NC State standout cracked a new 400m IM NR (4:16.34) and an 800m free NR (7:49.64) to write his name into the history books, as well as onto the roster for Gwangju.
19-year-old Alexander Aslak Nørgaard is another man who notched a record at the Danish Open, firing off a wining 1500m time of 14:55.56 to overtake a 2009 supersuited mark.
Finally, Tobias Bjerg will look to improve upon his already stellar streak in the breaststroke events, having become Denmark’s first-ever sub-minute 100m breaststroker.
Of the squad, Coach Stefan Hansen says, “It is a positive development that more swimmers have swam during the individual requirements times than has been the case at the previous World Championships. Where the championships in Budapest in 2017 were six swimmers under the individual requirements times, this time there are nine swimmers under the individual requirements times, which testifies to a positive development of the Danish swimmers’ international high performance level.”
Denmark carried just one medal away from Budapest in 2017, with Blume taking bronze in the 100m free.
Denmark’s 2019 World Championships Team
Alexander Aslak Nørgaard, Sigma Swim Birkerød
Anton Ørskov Ipsen, Sigma Swim Birkerød
Emilie Beckmann, Tune IF/GTI/NTC
Emily Gantriis, Helsinge Svømmeklub/NTC
Jeanette Ottesen, Farum Svømmeklub
Julie Kepp Jensen, JGI/A6
Matilde Schrøder, Berns Swim Team/NTC
Mie Ø. Nielsen, Aalborg Svømmeklub/NTC
Pernille Blume, Holbæk Svømme Klub/NTC
Signe Bro, Triton Ballerup/NTC
Tobias B. Bjerg, AGF Svømning/NTC
Viktor B. Bromer, Aalborg Svømmeklub / NTC
Coaches
Martin Tuijens, NTC
Jonas Lundström, Sigma Swim
Mads Bjørn Hansen, NTC
Marco Loughran, Farum Svømmeklub
1:3 coach/swimmer ratio. Would be interesting to know what the size of French delegation is. Is this brutal cut of french team applies to the size of entire delegation as well?
What happened to Mie Nielsen? Injured, or didn’t make the team?
Inside the list.