WUPPERTAL, Germany, November 24. THE first day of racing at the German Short Course Nationals featured four distance events being swum in Wuppertal.
Christian Kubusch chimed in with a 7:46.86 to win the men's 800 free, jumping to third in the world rankings behind only Rocco Potenza (7:41.91) and Samuel Pizzetti (7:43.35). Manuel Schwarz hit the wall in second with a 7:53.51 for 11th in the world, while Joel Ax rounded out the podium with a third-place 7:54.55.
Yannick Lebherz moved up to sixth in the world rankings in the men's 400 IM with a winning 4:05.26. That swim put him behind only Michael Phelps (4:01.49), Daiya Seto (4:02.44), Chad Le Clos (4:03.10), David Verraszto (4:03.45) and Kosuke Hagino (4:03.59) in the rankings this year. Tim Wallburger finished a distant second tonight in 4:10.09, while Lukasz Wojt placed third in 4:12.64.
Theresa Michalak topped the women's 400 IM in 4:36.01, while Katharina Schiller took second in 4:37.37. Nina Schiffer rounded out the top three in 4:41.11. Melanie Radicke won the women's 1500 free in 16:15.49, while Leonie Beck took second in 16:15.72. Natalie Charlos wound up third in 16:23.77.