Schwarz Tops Wellbrock While Gose Turns Heads In 1500 Free At German SC Championships

2023 GERMAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, November 16th – Sunday, November 19th
• Wuppertal, Germany
• European Short Course Championships Qualifier
• SCM (25m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Entries/Results
• Livestream

Day three of the 2023 German Short Course Championships saw open water Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock take to the pool in his first event since this summer’s World Championships.

The 26-year-old ace competed in the men’s 800m freestyle and looked like he was on his way to a gold medal through the 300m before 21-year-old Sven Schwarz turned the tables on his elder teammate.

U23 Championships gold medalist Schwarz ultimately got to the wall first, clocking a time of 7:34.05 with Wellbrock settling for silver in 7:34.05. Henning Muehleitner rounded out the top 3 in 7:45.92.

Schwarz’s gold medal-worthy effort checks in as the 2nd-best of his career and now ranks him #2 in the world on the season, Only Sweden’s Victor Johansson has been quicker (7:33.01) with the European Short Course Championships on the horizon.

21-year-old European champion Isabel Gose put on a show in the women’s 1500m, stopping the clock in a head-turning result of 15:25.50. Gose beat the field by over 45 seconds, with the next-closest competition represented by Julia Ackermann who snagged silver in 16:11.94.

Gose’s time is a new lifetime best and ranks her as the 2nd-best German performer in history. Only national record holder Sarah Wellbrock (nee Kohler) has been quicker with the 15:18.01 benchmark she established in 2019.

Gose, whose time would have taken the silver at the 2021 European Short Course Championships, now takes over as the #1 swimmer in the world this season. French swimmer Anastasia Kirphichnikova previously wore the crown with the 15:33.42 she produced last month.

South African Chad Le Clos reaped another gold representing his SG Frankfurt club. The Olympic veteran punched a time of 21.53 to get to the wall ahead of Moritz Schaller and Christoph Fildebrandt who also landed on the podium.

Schaller touched in 21.84 while Fildebrandt hit 21.96 as the only other sub-22-second performers.

Angelina Kohler earned her 3rd gold of these championships, topping the women’s 50m free on day three. The 23-year-old registered a time of 24.05 to get the edge over runner-up Jessica Felsner who clocked 24.26. Nina Jazy logged a new German Junior Record en route to bagging bronze in 24.38.

Additional Winners

• Already the 200m backstroke winner here, 19-year-old Kiley Wilhelm doubled up with a victory in the women’s 100m back. The Lasse Frank-trained athlete hit a time of 58.41 for the win, knocking over half a second off her previous personal best.
• Christian Diener also added the 100m back to his previous 200m back win. The 30-year-old notched 51.44 while Marek Ulrich and Ole Braunschweig tied for the runner-up spot in 51.73.
• Finland’s Ida Hulkko reaped gold in the 50m breast with a time of 30.37. Already qualified for SC Euros, Nele Schulze scored silver in a new German Junior Record of 30.54.
• Lucas Matzerath posted the sole time under 27 seconds in the men’s 50m breast, logging 26.73 for the gold.
• Julia Titze grabbed gold in the women’s 200m IM in 2:09.94, with Schulze next in line in 2:11.21.
• The men’s 200m IM saw Ramon Klenz get it done for gold in 1:55.84, just his 2nd performance ever under the 1:56 threshold. He now ranks just outside the list of top 5 performers on the season.