Former 200Br World Champion Marco Koch Appoints Dirk Lange As New Coach Into Tokyo 2020

Gian Mattia D'Alberto / lapresse 15-06-2014 Roma sport nuoto trofeo Settecolli nella foto: Marco Koch GER Gian Mattia D'Alberto / lapresse 15-06-2014 Rome in the photo: Marco Koch GER
Photo Courtesy: Gian Mattia Dalberto/Lapresse

Marco Koch, the 2015 world 200m breaststroke champion, has appointed former Germany national team director Dirk Lange and the man who guided Cameron van der Burgh to Olympic gold as his new coach seven months ahead of Tokyo 2020.

Koch, who also claimed silver behind Hungary’s former Olympic champion Daniel Gyurta in the 2013 worlds in Barcelona, had been training under Henning Lambertz, who succeeded Lange as national team coach from 2013 to 2018.

Marco Koch

Photo Courtesy: Joao Marc Bosch

Koch has not appeared on an international long-course podium since he took silver behind Great Britain’s Ross Murdoch at the 2016 European Championships in London, a little under three months before finishing seventh at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The 29-year-old was then 11th at the 2017 worlds in Budapest before finishing fifth at this year’s edition in Gwangju, South Korea.

With only seven months left before the swimming programme gets under way in Japan, Koch has identified Lange as the man who can enable him to have the greater back-end speed he needs to force his way into contention, with all the medallists in Gwangju clocking sub-2:07 times.

Koch, who will train primarily in Frankfurt with Lange based in Graz, Austria, said: “I would once again like to thank Henning (Lambertz) for the cooperation over the past few years. We have had a lot of success together.

“Now I would like to specifically prepare for the Games in Japan with Dirk Lange. We have known each other for a very long time and have also had a significant amount of national and international success.

“I see my chance to improve my basic speed for the Olympic Games so that I can benefit more from my speed in the last meters.

“Dirk Lange is just the right man for this job. He has trained Olympic champions over 100m breast and knows me very well. The contact has never completely broken off in recent years.”

As well as guiding Van Der Burgh to 100m breaststroke gold in a then world-record time at London 2012, Lange has also overseen the likes of Ryk Neethling, Therese Alshammar and Gerhard Zandberg, a trio with world and Olympic medals a-plenty.

While acknowledging Koch’s place among the upper echelons of the globe’s breaststrokers, Lange also identified areas of improvement although he knows time is of the essence.

He said:

“Marco Koch is one of the best breaststrokers in the world, but still has some deficits.

“In our conversations, I clearly felt his unfulfilled craving for success.

“It will certainly not be easy, but my colleague Henning Lambertz has prepared Marco perfectly for the mission ‘Tokyo 2020’.

“We will prepare for the Olympic Games through many high-quality races and training camps.

“Everybody involved will have to work together closely. This includes in particular the German Swimming Federation and the Hessischer Schwimmbadverband.

“From now on it is serious and no mistakes are allowed. The Olympic Games are just around the corner.”

For Lambertz, there was nothing but goodwill for Koch, saying: “I wish Marco all the best for Tokyo! I am very happy about his choice of Dirk Lange as my successor. A world-class coach who has already looked after Marco and knows him very well!”

 

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