German World Championship Trials: National Records Approached, Top 10 World Times Posted

BERLIN, Germany, June 3. A few national records were chased in the first full finals session today at the German long course world championship trials.

Helge Meeuw started today's finals session with a victory in the men's 50 backstroke in 25.14. The time vaulted him up to ninth in the world rankings and was just off his national record of 24.59 set at the 2009 world championships. Placing second was Christian Diener with a 25.49. Stefan Herbst was third in 25.61.

Jenny Mensing won the women's 50 back in 28.88, with Isabell Fischer touching second in 29.08. Rounding out the podium in the event was third-place finisher Christin Zenner with a 29.20.

Marco Di Carli got to the wall first in the men's 50 free final with a 22.14. That put him at 11th in the world rankings. Placing second was Steffen Diebler with a 22.21, who moved up from a tie for 15th to sole ownership of the 13th-place world ranking. Christoph Fildebrandt touched third in 22.70.

World record holder Paul Biedermann had a battle on his hands in the final of the men's 400 freestyle, but got his hand on the wall first with a 3:47.44, a time that puts him ninth in the world as he prepares to defend his world championship title. The time, notably, is well off his world record of 3:40.07 that he set at the 2009 worlds. Clemens Rapp stayed with Biedermann throughout the entire race, touching in 3:48.13, good enough for 10th in the world. Placing third in the race was Christian Kubusch with a 3:49.85.

Silke Lippok won the women's 200 free in 1:58.24, off her 11th-ranked time of 1:57.42 that she swam in prelims yesterday. Second place went to Lisa Vitting with a 1:59.47, and third place went to Franziska Jensen with a 1:59.91.

Hendrik Feldwehr took the title in the men's 50 breast with a 27.74, just off his third-ranked time of 27.34 from prelims. Erik Steinhagen took second in 28.22, with Johannes Neumann finishing third with a 28.24.

The women's 50 breast was won by Dorothea Brandt with a 30.83, just off the German national record of 30.77, set by Kerstin Vogel at the 2009 world championships. The time moved Brandt up to fourth in the world rankings. Caroline Ruhnau was second with a 31.59, while Vogel placed third with a 31.87.

Steffen Deibler also just missed out on a national mark, this time in the men's 50 fly. His winning time of 23.47 fell short of Johannes Dietrich's record of 23.43 from 2009. The time was one-hundredth slower than he swam in the prelims to put him fifth in the world in the event. Hannes Heyl finished just a tenth behind Deibler with a 23.57 to put him sixth in the world, and Philip Heintz took third with a 24.13.

Sina Sutter won the women's 50 fly with a 26.81, well ahead of Iris Rosenberger's 27.30 for second place. Paulina Schmeidel was third in 27.36.

Markus Deibler matched his older brother Steffen with a national title in the men's 200 IM with a stellar time of 1:58.67. The time is fifth in the world rankings. Jan David Schepers, who put up a 1:59.03 in prelims for what was the sixth-fastest time in the world, placed second in finals with a 1:59.39. Well back in third was Morten Ahme with a 2:04.67.

The women's 200 IM wrapped up the individual competition for the day. Theresa Michalak won the race in 2:13.32, with second place going to Alexandra Wenk with a 2:15.28. Third place went to Katharina Schiller in 2:15.87.

In relay action, Martin Kutscher, Jan-Philip Glania, Stefano Razeto and Marco Di Carli of Frankfurt won the men's 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:20.29. Notably, Di Carli posted a 47.82 anchor leg split to help his team post the victory over Bayer Wup, who placed second in 3:22.83. Essen was third with a 3:26.98.

Dortmund won the women's 400 free relay with a 3:49.67, well ahead of Essen's second-place time of 3:52.45. Leipzig was third with a 3:52.89.

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