2022 FINA Short Course World Championships
- December 13-18, 2022
- Melbourne, Australia
- SCM (25 meters)
- Meet Central
The German Swimming Association (DSV) has announced their 8-member congregation that will compete at the upcoming Short Course World Championships that will be held next month in Melbourne.
University of Texas swimmer Anna Elendt highlights the relatively small roster. Elendt recently competed SCM at the Toronto stop of the FINA World cup, where she set a short course German national record in the 100 breast. She broke the record for the first time in prelims (1:04.58), taking off 0.24 from the previous record done by Caroline Runhau (1:04.78) in 2009. Elendt followed up by breaking her own record in finals, taking off an additional half-second for a final time of 1:04.07.
Two time World Short Course Champion Marco Koch and international team veteran Marius Kusch lead the men’s side of the roster. Koch recently took second in the 200m breast (2:05.75) at the Berlin World Cup stop, while Kusch recently picked up a 3rd place finish in the 100m fly (49.97) at the Indianapolis stop. They are also joined by recent European Championship medalists Ole Braunschweig and Lucas Matzerath. Koch, Braunschweig, and Matzerath are all returners from last year’s Short Course Worlds team for Germany.
Germany will be without defending SCM World Champion and 1500 World Record holder Florian Wellbrock. Wellbrock had a successful showing at the FINA World Championships this summer, where he took silver in the 800m free, bronze in the 1500m free, and bronze in the 10k open water race. However, Wellbrock was one of the German athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 following Budapest, thus causing him to limit his schedule at the European Championships in August.
Isabel Gose and Lukas Maertens are other notable absences for Germany. Gose and Maerten’s both claimed victory in the 400m free at the European Championships in August, with Maerten’s swim being a new Championship Record (3:42.50). Gose recently picked up a win in the 800m free (8:14.88) and a third place finish in the 400m free (4:00.19) at the Berlin stop of the FINA World Cup.
At the 2021 World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi, Germany placed 11th with three medals. Germany returns only three athletes from last year’s team, none of whom were medalists. In 2018, Germany tied for 17th with their only bronze medal coming from Koch, who returns for this year’s team.
Women’s Roster: Anna Elendt, Angelina Koehler
Men’s Roster: Ole Braunschweig, Marco Koch, Lucas Matzerath, Marius Kusch, Josha Salchow, Marek Ulrich