Major 400 Free Showdowns Brewing After German Trials Day 2 Prelims

2021 GERMAN OLYMPIC TRIALS – BERLIN

• Friday, April 16th – Sunday, April 18th
• Friday/Saturday: Prelims at 10am local/Finals at 7pm local; Sunday: Prelims at 9:30am local/Finals at 4pm local
• Schwimm- und Sprunghalle im Europasportpark, Berlin
• German Olympic Selection Policy
• Long course meters (LCM)
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• Live results

The final German Olympic Trials meet continued today, with prelims of the 100 free, 200 fly and 400 free.

Florian Wellbrock led the men’s 400 free at 3:48.58, just ahead of Henning Mühlleitner (3:48.75) with Lukas Märtens (3:51.10) not far behind in third. The three men are fighting for two spots, while the Olympic cut is 3:46.40, so tonight will probably be much quicker. Wellbrock (3:44.35) and Märtens (3:45.29) are 1-2 under the consideration currently from their performances in Madgeburg a week ago, while Mühlleitner went a 3:45.55 in Eindhoven the same day. He’ll need to finish top two AND beat one or both of the other men’s times from this qualification period tonight to be considered for the Olympic team.

The women’s 400 free was led by Sarah Köhler in 4:12.62, a bit of an easy prelims swim from the field. Isabel Gose was second in 4:16.05, ahead of Leonie Kullmann (4:16.88) and Celine Rieder (4:18.34). The cut is a 4:07.50, which Gose (4:06.11) and Kullmann (4:07.44) have done this month, while Köhler has been 4:08.21.

Köhler is qualified for Tokyo in the 800 and 1500 free, but she’s been 4:03.96 in this event. Gose looks good to qualify in the 200 free and 800 free as it is, and Kullmann is also looking like a 4×200 free relay qualifier. Rieder, meanwhile, is currently looking good to join the team in the 1500 free with the #1 time in the qualification period and under the cut. So, nobody is necessarily at-risk of not joining the team based on this race’s outcome, but an individual berth is on the line for Kullmann.

Only one swimmer raced the men’s 200 fly, and that was former German record-holder Ramon Klenz. He had his record broken earlier this month by David Thomasberger, who went a 1:55.04 to sail under the Olympic cut by over a second. Klenz had the mark at 1:55.76 before Thomasberger went 1:55.51 and then 1:55.04. The German Olympic cut is 1:56.30, and Klenz could join Thomasberger in this event with a strong swim in finals.

Damian Wierling looks primed to chase the German Olympic standard in the 100 free in this evening’s finals, having hit a 48.76 in the prelims as the only finisher under 49. Wierling needs to get down to 48.50, so it’s a quarter-second drop and change away. Marius Kusch, who has already won the 100 fly this week and was already on the German Olympic roster, was second here in 49.08.

OTHER TOP FINISHERS

• After finishing second in the 200 free last night under the Olympic cut, Annika Bruhn stamped a 54.97 in the women’s 100 free prelims, just ahead of Marie Pietruschka (55.10). The consideration standard is a 54.10, so they have a bit more to go in finals.
• In the women’s 200 fly, like with the men, only one swimmer raced: German record-holder Franziska Hentke. She clocked a 2:10.00, well off of her 2:05.26 record but not too far off of the 2:08.20 standard. Hentke is already qualified for Tokyo in this event.