Dorothea Brandt Pulls Off Sprint Double On Day Two in Germany; Paul Biedermann Returns World Class

BERLIN, Germany, May 2. THE second night of competition at the German Long Course Nationals proved to have some of the brightest stars of German swimming in attendance.

Dorothea Brandt picked up a sprint double this evening. First, she won the women’s 50-meter breast in 30.90 after posting a third-ranked 30.77 this morning during prelims. This morning’s swim put her behind only Ruta Meilutyte (29.92) and Jennie Johansson (30.73) in the SwimVortex world rankings. Caroline (31.20) and Alice (31.99) Ruhnau took second and third in the sprint breast with Caroline moving up to 10th in the world.

Brandt doubled up with a 26.40 in the women’s 50-meter fly. That effort pushed her to 11th in the world in the event, although she’ll likely scratch it at the European Championships to focus on the breaststroke and freestyle events. Alexandra Wenk clocked a national age group record with a second-place 26.48 to take 14th in the world, while Paulina Schmiedel placed third in 27.04.

In the corresponding men’s events, Hendrik Feldwehr threw down a 27.49 in the men’s 50-meter breaststroke for the win, which was a bit slower than his preliminary swim of 27.36 that ranks him fourth in the world. Erik Steinhagen took second tonight in 27.88, while Markus Deibler claimed third in 28.01.

Meanwhile, Steffen Deibler smashed the field in the men’s 50-meter fly with a 23.23 to move to seventh in the world. Maximilian Oswald (24.09) and Simon Hengel (24.19) managed to claim second and third in the sprint fly event.

In his first major meet back from a break in the sport, Paul Biedermann assumed the duties of the likely Face of German Swimming with a 3:47.89 in the men’s 400-meter freestyle. That swim vaulted him to ninth in the world rankings, and puts him in a strong spot heading into this summer. Biedermann, the world record holder with a 3:40.07 from the techsuit-era 2009 World Championships, continues to be one of the strongest and most recognizable swimmers in the nation. Clemens Rapp (3:50.32) and Florian Vogel (3:50.58) battled for second.

Jenny Mensing clipped Johanna Roas, 28.80 to 28.84, for the women’s 50-meter backstroke title tonight, while Doris Eichhorn placed third just behind with a 28.87. Meanwhile, Nic Graesser powered his way to seventh in the world rankings in the men’s 50-meter backstroke with a 25.01. No one even came close as Graesser nearly became just the seventh swimmer under 25 seconds this year. Carl Louis Schwarz (25.45) and Christian Diener (25.46) took second and third, while Marek Ulrich set a national age group record with a fifth-place 25.86.

Johanna Friedrich hung tough with the rest of the field through 200 meters before turning on the jets to dust her challengers down the backhalf with a 4:10.49 to win the women’s 400-meter freestyle. Sarah Kohler, the 800 free win last night, took second in 4:12.15 with Jaana Ehmcke placing third in 4:12.22. Leonie Antonia Beck also was in the mix with a fourth-place 4:12.63.

In relay action, Dortmund’s Kersin Lange, Alina Weber, Denise Gruhn and Hannah Freiwald took the women’s 400-meter free relay title in 3:49.13, while Stadtwerke Munchen’s Philipp Wolf, Oliver Zeidler, Florian Vogel and Marius Kusch topped the men’s 400-meter free relay in 3:22.03.

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