The German swimming federation DSV has announced a roster of 8 open water swimmers to represent the country at the 2020 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The open water portion of the multi-sport aquatics championships will be held from May 18th-24th at Lupa Lake.
The team is led by Leonie Beck, last summer’s World Championship bronze medalist in the 5km open water swim. She is one of 3 Germans who will race in open water at the 2020 Olympics, along with Florian Wellbrock, last year’s World Champion in the premier 10km race, and Rob Muffels, the men’s 10km open water bronze medalist. Muffels and Wellbrock are not scheduled to race at the European Championships.
The roster also includes open water veteran Andreas Waschburger, who finished 8th in the 10km event at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and was also 8th in the 25km event at last summer’s World Championships. Soren Meissner, Lea Boy, and Niklas Frach all raced at the World Championships as well.
The DSV notes that Boy’s inclusion on the roster is pending her qualification for pool status. If she qualifies for the Olympic Team in the pool, she’ll skip the European Championships in open water. Her best time in the 1500 free of 16:15.02 is under the 16:16.00 DSV-set standard, so the 19-year old would just have to repeat that effort between now and the end of the German Championships (April 30th-May 3rd), and be at least the 2nd-best German behind the already-qualified Sarah Koehler, to secure her spot at the Olympics.
German Roster, Open Water Swimming, 2020 European Championships
- Women’s 5K – Jeanette Spiwoks, Lea Boy
- Women’s 10K – Leonie Beck, Jeannette Spiwoks, Lea Boy
- Women’s 25K – Jeannette Spiwoks, Sarah Bosslet
- Men’s 5K – Niklas Frach, Soren Meissner
- Men’s 10K – Niklas Frach, Andreas Waschburger, Christian Keber
- Men’s 25K – Andreas Waschburger