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Philip Heintz smashes the German 200 IM record at German Nationals

German National Championships and World Championships Trials

Philip Heintz sets a new German record in the 200m IM during morning heats with a time of 1:56,59. He also was the previous national record holder in 1:57,48.

Heintz said at the opening press conference on wednesday that he changed his training and swam less meters (5.500 instead of 7000 per training unit), but worked on his speed in practice with more sets in race pace.

Philip Heintz is a real “Mr. Sunshine”, he always smiles, is relaxed and in a good mood  but he is a very focused athlete who concentrates on his races and he is experienced enough to work on the details with his coach Dr. Michael Spiekermann. Heintz trains at the German federal training center in Heidelberg.

The 26-old finished sixth at the 2016 Olympic Games in the 200 IM and wasn’t satisfied with this result and thought about hanging up the speedos but fortunately he decided to continue his sports career until the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

He now ranks on the 3rd position in the world ranking:

 

2016-2017 LCM MEN 200 IM

ChaseUSA
KALISZ
07/27
1.55.56
2Phillip
HEINTZ
GER1.55.7606/16
3Kosuke
HAGINO
JPN1.56.0107/27
4Wang
SHUN
CHN1.56.1604/14
5Max
LITCHFIELD
GBR1.56.6407/26
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Victorian
7 years ago
IMs for days
7 years ago

He is now the fastest ever european in textile. He split:
25.38/55.42(30.04)/1:28.20(32.78)/1:55.76(27.56)
For comparison Hagino split
24.43/52.86(28.43)/1:26.94(34.08)/1:55.07(28.13)
Lochte Split
24.89/53.48(28.59)/1:26.51(33.03)/1:54.00(27.49)
And Cseh, the former fastest european in textile, split this in his textile best
25.03/54.85(29.82)/1:27.96(33.11)/1:56.22(28.26)
It seems that his weakest strokes are butterfly and backstroke, while he is very strong in the breast and free, actually swimming his second half faster than lochte did in his world record. This is a very different IMer than we have gotten used to with the likes of phelps, lochte and hagino, who all are very fast on the front half.

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  IMs for days
7 years ago

Not really (about the fly), fly is his best stroke. 52.12 in April and a PB of 51.84.

IMs for days
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
7 years ago

It is hard to find information about lesser known swimmers, so I just made assumtioms based on the way he swam his race. I wouldn’t call fly his best stroke though, if he is able to deliver a 32 second breast leg in and IM.

Prickle
7 years ago

@THOMASLURZFAN
The pace of Isabel Gose who won the gold at 200 free is indeed very unusual:
28.24 – 30.97(!) – 30.60 – 29.05(!!!!) (1:58.86)
This last fifty is faster than shown by Sjostrom and Ledecky in their final race in Rio.
She is what 14-15 years old? That the level where Ledecky was at 15. I think you underestimate her. She will be under 1:57 very soon.

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  Prickle
7 years ago

She turned 15 last month. I expected her to swim at least 1:58 low here and i dont think that was unrealistic. She swam 1:59.5 at the german age group championships last week and said that she didnt taper + she swam a 4:10 400 free here, improving her PB by almost 2s and she went 1:59.12 in April, so you would expect her to drop more than just 0.2-0.3s. I think with a better pacing she might have gone 1:58.3-1:58.4, but its still a great sign that she can “play” with the field already, going from 6th to 1st in the last lane. Last year she dropped time at the european junior championships, so i hope that she drops… Read more »

Prickle
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
7 years ago

Thank you for your great reply. So with her 4:10 at 400 that is very good she isn’t a sprinter that may explain her approach to 200. But 29 flat at last 50 is still very fast.
I will definitely put her on my watch list.
P.S. I’m not Hungarian and can’t help you with your questions. Sorry.

ThomasLurzFan
7 years ago

Before today Heintz was 21st on the all-time list (only one time per athlete) with his time of 1:57.48 from Rio last year. Now he moves to 8th on the all-time list, becoming the 8th man to break 1:56. The others were Lochte, Phelps, Hagino, Cseh (2009), Shanteau (2009), Pereira (2009) and Morgan (2017), according to the USA swimming website, but i am hearing for the first time that David Morgan posted a time of 1:55.70 in April … ? I think this might be a mistake, which would make Heintz 7th on the all-time list. If Cseh, Shanteau and Pereira didnt swim faster than 1:55.76 without the supersuit, than this might actually be the 4th “most valuable” time ever… Read more »

Captain Awesome
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
7 years ago

If anything I would’ve thought that David Morgan had done that time in the 200 fly, being a flyer rather than an IMer.

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  Captain Awesome
7 years ago

I got it from here (amazing website!):
https://www.usaswimming.org/Home/times/data-hub
I clicked on “U.S. and World Lists > All Time Top Performers”
On this website you can also find world rankings by age (for example for all girls born in 2000 or later), its ridiculous how much better than the website of the german swimming federation this is.

DMacNCheez
Reply to  Captain Awesome
7 years ago

You seem to be right. It appears he went a 1:55.70 200 fly at the Australian Championships in April so the USA database must have mixed up the event.

oli993
7 years ago

Wow, he just won the final in 1:55,76! I can noz believe he’s done that!

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  oli993
7 years ago

Other results so far:
Mens 50 free: 22.06 for Wierling (a bit disappointing, after his 21.81 from last year)
Womens 200 free: 1:58.86 for Gose (born in 2002), at 150m she was 6th with a time of 1:29.81, so i think she didnt get the pacing right, i think she will swim 1:58 low later this year. Very close race, 4th place was 1:59.08, so the relay should be qualified. Top 2 girls were born in 2002 and 1999, so there might be some hope.
Mens 200 fly: Another close race, Thomasberger is the surprising winner with 1:56.81, 3rd place was 1:57.29, top 3 all born in 1996 or later. This is probably the weakest event on… Read more »

Dee
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
7 years ago

I’d say men’s 50fr is weaker than 200fl. Wierling is .8 slower than where medals will be, and the other men are all over 1s behind. That’s a huge distance over 50s. Agree on Gose, I actually expect better than 1.58 later in the year. 1.57mid is within her capability. Maya Tobehn looks a find, too. Very versatile.

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  Dee
7 years ago

You think that it will take 21.26 to medal in mens 50 free? I think thats a bit of a stretch …
If you look at the world rankings, its pretty obvious that a time of 22.06 in mens 50 free is more valuable than a time of 1:56.81 in mens 200 fly and the results at the last couple olympics and world championships support my argument.
I agree about Tobehn, very new “find”. Yesterday she swam a 4:48 IM and the NEXT race (the break was 2 minutes at best) she swam a 26.48 50 fly, which was a huge PB for her, so she might go sub 1:00 here (hopefully). I think 50/100 fly and 200/400… Read more »

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
7 years ago

Sorry, i got her 50 fly time wrong, it was 26.74, still a good time and a new german age group record.

Dee
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
7 years ago

I think, with a bunch of men coalescing around 21.4, with a few youngsters between 21.3-21.5, 21.2 will be the standard in this Olympic cycle. Also on a depth standpoint, the German 200flyers are young and making strides, 50free looks quite stagnant and there isn’t much new talent. Oswald, Suck etc have been around for some years and arent really moving forward. I see hope for your 200flyers, not so much for the sprinters.

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  Dee
7 years ago

As we all know 1 great talent is enough and Wierling definitely has the potential. I think with him its the same as with many other 50/100 free swimmers, whenever they improve at one distance, they get worse at the other distance. Last year he set the german record of 21.81 at the nationals, just to bomb out of the prelims in Rio. At the same time he clearly improved his 100 free PB in Rio and i think something similar happened at the 2014 youth olympics, so lets hope that this is a good sign for his 100 free here …
(Although its more likely that he took it “easier” this year, focusing on his studies).
I… Read more »

Rafael
Reply to  oli993
7 years ago

5th faster all time now? Behind Phelps lotche cseh and Pereira?

Rafael
Reply to  Rafael
7 years ago

Or 6th behind Hagino also?

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  Rafael
7 years ago

8th, although i think that Morgans time of 1:55.70 from April might be “fake”. I also think that only Hagino, Phelps and Lochte have been faster without the supersuit. Shanteau, Cseh and Pereira all posted their best times in Rome in 2009.

Pvdh
Reply to  oli993
7 years ago

4th fastest ever now

bobo gigi
7 years ago

WOW! In 1.56 you enter a new category.
MP was the first guy to do it when he smashed the world record in 1.56.04 in the 2003 world final in Barcelona.
I’m not 100% sure but I believe that the other guys under 1.57 are Lochte, Cseh, Brodie (magical suit), Shanteau (magical suit), Pereira, Hagino, Shun and now Heintz. Kalisz should be the next one in the list.
I just hope for Heintz that he doesn’t peak too early in the season. The 200 IM is very open at worlds.

sven
Reply to  bobo gigi
7 years ago

Seto has broken 1:57 as well. This event is already developing in the absence of Phelps and Lochte. Very interesting.

CROOKED HILLARY
Reply to  sven
7 years ago

1:55 is rare air, 1:54 owned by Phelps and Lochte but maybe he’ll get there soon.

Ex Quaker
7 years ago

Huge breakout swim. Not too many people in the sport’s history have been faster.

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Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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