200 m breaststroke World Champion Marco Koch competed last weekend at an international swim meet in Mainz, Germany, not far from his hometown of Darmstadt.
At this short course meet, young swimmers got the chance to swim in one pool with Koch, the youngest of them born 2006. The competition schedule included all 50 m, 100 m and 200 m distances and the 4 x 100 m freestyle and medley relays. Also, the top three in the sprint distances (50 m) won a prize money of 100 Euro (about 110 USD), 50 Euro (45 USD), and 20 Euro (22 USD), respectively.
Of course, Marco Koch was the star of the meet – and he won seven events: 50 m breaststroke in 27.55 , 100 breaststroke in 58.86, and the 200 m breaststroke in 2:05.02 (second place finisher touched in 2:16.83). Koch’s 200 time is the fastest SC swim this year so far.
Then Koch tested the waters in other strokes: 200 m butterfly in 1:57.17, 200 m freestyle in 1:51.36, 50 m backstroke in 25.22, 50 m butterfly in 24.54 and he touched second in the 50 m freestyle in 23.17.
This summer, Marco Koch won the 200 breast gold medal at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan in 2:07.76; he ranks first in this event in the 2015 FINA ranking as he now turns his focus tothe Rio Olympic Games. So far in the World Cup, he has only competed in the Moscow Meet- directly after Worlds. There he won his signature 200 m breaststroke in 2:08.77. He was set for the World Cup in Chartres, France, but pulled out of the meet because of illness.
The 25 year old trains with his coach Alexander Kreisel at the DSW Darmstadt 1912. He is also the 2014 European Champion (LC) in the 200 m breaststroke – and one of the few German medal hopefuls in swimming for Rio 2016.