Reva Foos is “a bit uncomfortable” that she has already canceled her school duties just two weeks after starting her legal clerkship.

But her trainers and colleagues at the Viktoriaschule in Darmstadt showed understanding for the sporting ambitions of the prospective biology and German teacher.

At the continental title fights in Budapest, the 27-year-old swimmer of SG Frankfurt is allowed to go in the individual races over 200 meters and on Sunday over 400 meters. For the relay decisions, in which the then debutante won gold in the 4 × 200 meter mixed race and bronze in the 4 × 200 meter freestyle with the quartets of the German Swimming Association in Glasgow during the European Championships 2018 in Glasgow, the Duna- Arena does not host teams from their home country.

The pool competitions in the Hungarian capital play a subordinate role.

Almost only athletes from Germany who were not scheduled for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo were named.

Exceptions are the two Frankfurt breast specialists, Marco Koch and Lucas Matzerath;

Matzerath missed the finals over 100 meters in eleventh place.

"I didn't have a good feeling in the water"

Foos also aimed to travel to Japan. In the decisive qualification in Berlin in April, however, she clearly failed over the 200 meter freestyle at the norm of 1: 57.20 minutes, for which she should have undercut her best time of 1: 57.79, and did not achieve a relay position. Over the twice as long distance she did not even get on the starting block due to a lack of chances. The performance in training had indicated a better performance.

“But I didn't have a good feeling in the water,” says Foos. You need a lot of competition to get in shape. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were few. In addition, the Hessin suffered from hip problems at the beginning of the year. “I couldn't train my legs for eight weeks,” she says. "Such an injury", probably an overload, "I didn't know until then." "Forever" the crawl didn't feel right. Still, the trials could have turned out differently. "Sometimes you can't exactly say why it is not going well."

The continuation of her career parallel to her legal clerkship has not given her off. “It's stressful. But I can organize myself very well, ”says Foos. At the weekend she prepares the meals with which she strengthens herself in the days after. Club coach Mark Jayasundara, whose group she joined in January 2020 because she no longer wanted to practice alone with her then boyfriend Marco Koch under national coach Shila Sheth, is very flexible. "Sometimes it stays longer if I come later."

She does not know whether that is enough to continue to offer herself for major events. However, the ambitious young woman wants to give it a try. The late starter, who only gave up other hobbies in favor of her favorite discipline at the age of 14, serves as motivation or consolation in difficult moments, what she has already achieved. "I never thought that I would ever get that far," says the Esslingen native, who grew up in Rödermark. “The sport has given me so much.” She appreciates the renewed European Championship qualification, which she achieved a week before the trials at a meeting in Stockholm. "I try to attack in every race," says the tenth in the 200 meter freestyle from 2018. "But I'm already satisfied with what I've already achieved."

At the beginning of the week you will see Reva Foos again in her seminars and at the internships in school classes. She actually wanted to start doing this in the fall, but couldn't find a place. In retrospect, she is happy about it: The beginners at the time spent the first few months mostly homeschooling. She bridged the time as head of the elective courses in art and school garden at the elite school of sports. Just swimming for a few months was out of the question. "For my head," she explains the restlessness, "I still need something to think about."