"After the Olympic Games you have to let things calm down a bit, rebuild the Olympic cycle, develop the athletes anew," says Bernd Berkhahn.

The Magdeburg coach is a solitaire among the German swimming coaches.

What he says has weight, given by the successes of his athletes.

Because they are the only successes of German swimmers at the highest level.

Christopher Becker

sports editor.

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Now the national coach Berkhahn travels to Budapest with three pool swimmers and seven swimmers, a kind of elite team.

Ten pool swimmers not from Magdeburg, but from all over Germany.

The German Swimming Association does not send more to this World Cup.

During the World Championships, the youngsters will swim out the German Championships as part of the "Finals" in Berlin.

And thus has a secure place in the program schedule of public service television, while the best swimmers in the world will at best be seen in one stream.

Reduced training

In linear terms, this year not even the niche broadcasters are interested in the premium event organized by the international association FINA under its President Husain Al Musallam.

In February, when the Corona Winter Games were taking place in Beijing, the Kuwaiti announced together with Viktor Orbán that he would organize a World Cup in his capital in the summer, if only to make up for what had been canceled in the past two years.

And there will be one every year up to and including 2025.

The consequence is a certain reticence when it comes to the event in Budapest.

"The other nations do not act differently than we do," says Berkhahn.

“There has been less training this season.

Every athlete must have time to take care of a dual career.

What has become of the season, that every international association wants to catch up on the championships from the last few years, makes it very difficult.” Not everyone is involved, says Berkhahn.

"A relatively large number of Australians skip the World Championships, some concentrate on the Commonwealth Games, other athletes on the European Championships." Because they will follow in Rome in mid-August, then again with the German juniors.

In Budapest, the elite should deliver.

"We can count on everyone reaching the semifinals, if not the final." Three young swimmers aspired to "become among the best in the world": Rafael Miroslaw, 21 years old, the first German to swim over 100 meters freestyle in the 50- meter pool in under 48 seconds.

Anna Elendt, the breaststroke swimmer who comes to Budapest with three German records.

Lukas Märtens, Berkhahn's swimmer from Magdeburg.

"I think we can be happy about that," says the coach.

"Strong performance explosion"

But: Elendt and Miroslaw train at college in the United States.

He follows their development with enthusiasm, but: "It's not part of the DSV system.

It shouldn't be the case that the German Swimming Federation trains swimmers who go to the USA and swim fast there and then go to the World Championships and swim fast there.

That is not systematic.” In the DSV, the training “in itself” is “of good quality.

There is a lack of being able to lead the athletes to the absolute top”.

He therefore does not expect any more swimmers to move up into this category until the 2024 Olympics: "Until Paris, no strangers will be added."