It’s getting colder in Paris
German swimming stars are freezing bitterly in Qatar
February 5, 2024, 12:56 p.m
First Leonie Beck, then Florian Wellbrock: The two double world champions from 2023 got off to a false start in Doha. There is a lot of work and a lot of worry ahead of the Olympics.
Florian Wellbrock needed a few hours to collect himself after his false start at the World Cup. “The sea is and will remain unpredictable – we will carry on,” wrote Germany’s swimming star on social media late on Sunday evening after he got out of the water at the old port of Doha at midday, both cold and frustrated, and left in silence.
Shortly after the race, national coach Bernd Berkhahn looked for an explanation for the 29th place over ten kilometers; the open water Olympic champion himself had long since fled to the warmth. “We trained at low temperatures. Of course, never for more than two hours because you don’t want to endanger the health of the athletes,” said the Magdeburger’s coach: “He actually didn’t have that big of a problem.”
But Wellbrock apparently had to struggle with the 19.9 degree water temperature in Qatar. Oliver Klemet, third in the 2023 World Championships, also had a hard time with the conditions in eleventh place. The day before, Leonie Beck clearly missed defending her title in 20th place at a not much warmer 20.2 degrees.
Bad: It’s cold in Paris too
The good news: Wellbrock and Beck had already secured their Olympic ticket in the 26 degree warm water in Fukuoka with their sensational double triumphs over five kilometers and the Olympic ten kilometers, as had Klemet with bronze. The bad news: Berkhahn expects colder temperatures in the Seine than in the port of Doha – but probably not cold enough for a warming wetsuit.
Since a rule change two years ago, this is only permitted below 18 degrees, instead of below 20 degrees as before. “Towards Paris we have to do even more with cold water, because the Seine will only be between 18 and 19 degrees,” said Berkhahn.
Before that, Beck (8:30 a.m. CET) and Wellbrock and Klemet (11 a.m. CET) still have the five-kilometer races in Qatar on Wednesday. “It’s half way there, maybe it’s not quite as cold,” said Beck. After the unsuccessful start, Wellbrock probably also had this hope, as he swam to the finish over twice the distance, 1:37.8 minutes behind the Hungarian winner Kristof Rasovszky.
“A mammoth task” still lies ahead
But even before the World Cup, they had already trained in the cooled down flow channel and taken ice baths, explained Berkhahn. However, “at relatively short notice in the period after our training camp in Pretoria” at the beginning of the year. These things “certainly need to be done more often” in preparation for the Olympics.
Because everything is geared towards the big highlight of the season, the World Cup, which was postponed due to the corona pandemic, doesn’t really fit in. With a view to the already secure Olympic qualification, the national coach had explained in advance that he didn’t really need to focus on the ten kilometers in Doha.
Nevertheless, Berkhahn on Sunday saw “a mammoth task” in “solving all of this again.” The pool competitions will follow next week. Unlike in the open water, Wellbrock is still fighting for an Olympic ticket in the 800 and 1500 meter freestyle.