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Florian Wellbrock in the preliminary round of the 1500 meter freestyle on Saturday
Photo: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images
Florian Wellbrock won the silver medal in the 1500 meter freestyle at the World Swimming Championships in Qatar. The 26-year-old clocked 14:44.61 minutes in the final. Daniel Wiffen from Ireland, who had already become world champion in the 800 meters, took gold.
For Wellbrock himself, the World Cup now ends a little more reconcilingly. Previously, the best German swimmer in recent years had not been able to meet his own demands in the Emirate. The Bremen native was eliminated in the preliminary round of the 800 meter freestyle. In the first week of the World Championships, he missed out on entering the fight for the medals over ten and five kilometers in open water.
"It's a great relief to now have the 1500 meter ticket for the pool competitions at the Olympics in my pocket," said Wellbrock. »I think mental performance is almost more important than physical performance. That’s why it was a super important step to come out with a medal again.”
Best record for the DSV since 2009
Gold medalist Wiffen was on course for a world record for a long time and swam his own race with a lead of over ten seconds. The Frenchman David Aubry took bronze. Sven Schwarz came in sixth (14:47.89). "I'm very happy with the time," said the Hanoverian. He is also “extremely happy” for Wellbrock that “after this misery, one could almost say, he was able to regain his footing and is already having a good time and a good placement.”
Wellbrock gave the German Swimming Association (DSV) its sixth medal on the last day of the title fights in Doha. The DSV last won more precious metal at the 2009 World Championships in Rome. Back then, the guarantors of success were still called Britta Steffen and Paul Biedermann.
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