The Morning Swim Show News Segment, June 24, 2009: Germany, Great Britain Hold World Championships Trials

PHOENIX, Arizona, June 24. TODAY'S news segment of The Morning Swim Show gives viewers a look into world championship trials competitions in Germany and Great Britain.

Germany's world championship trials started today in Berlin with the finals of the men's 400 IM and 800 free relay, and the women's 200 IM and 800 free. Yannick Lebherz provided the highlight of the night, posting a 4:14.63 in the 400 IM to erase a 20-year-old national record.

Britta Steffen was the fastest qualifier in the women's 50 free prelims with a 24.67.

Despite Steffen's two gold medals, the Germans had a disappointing Olympic Games in Beijing. Paul Biedermann was the only other German to make the finals in Beijing, placing fifth in the 200 free. It is certainly a goal for the Germans to build some elite depth in the pool, and this meet will give us some indication of how that's going.

Great Britain will give swimmers another crack at making the world championship team at the Scottish nationals this week.

The meet begins Thursday in Glasgow, and here's how it works in terms of qualifying for worlds. Those that did not place first at the British trials in March still have a chance to get on the world team for Great Britain. If a swimmer posts a time at the Scottish nationals that is faster than the second place time from the British trials, that swimmer will be put on the team to Rome. So a lot of swimmers who placed third in many events are using this meet as a second-chance competition. Then you have swimmers like Gemma Spofforth, the NCAA champion in both backstrokes, who skipped the March trials to compete at NCAA meet for Florida. So she'll swim this weekend to try and secure a spot on the team as well. Probably the only second-place finisher who can rest easy is Rebecca Adlington, whose 4:00.89 in the 400 free from March isn't likely to be beaten this week.

Speaking of the world championships, the Rome organizing committee released a statement on its website today saying that work on the pool is on schedule, and all aquatic facilities will be ready for the events.

The world championships begin July 17 with diving preliminaries and the competition concludes August 2.

Click the Swimming World TV button on the right to watch today's news segment.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x