With another victory, the German open water relay would have set a world championship record. In the end, the team ends up in fourth place. Still, pride prevails.
Double world champion Leonie Beck defended teammate and final swimmer Oliver Klemet after his unsuccessful finish and just missing out on the bronze medal.
“Only one person can have third place in the attack. That’s the sport. We’re not angry, maybe a little disappointed,” said the 26-year-old about fourth place with the German open water relay.
The whole team have one “good job”. After four wins in four races, the German national anthem did not sound in Fukuoka this time. Another gold medal would have meant a record. The fact remains that no nation has ever won all open water events at a World Championships.
Beck: “Anything can always happen”
The dominance of the German swimmers in the sea in front of the Momochi Seaside Park was overwhelming even without a record or a medal at the end. Beck and Florian Wellbrock won over ten and five kilometers. The 25-year-old Wellbrock did not start a relay in order to be able to better prepare for the pool races in the coming week. Lea Boy and Rob Muffels formed the German quartet with Beck and Klemet.
“In Sardinia at the World Cup we won with the same line-up”, said Beck. “Anything can always happen. It is not a matter of course that you get or win a medal.”
Wellbrock was there as a spectator and once again stepped onto the podium when the German team was honored as the best team. Like him and Beck, Klemet, who won bronze in the ten-kilometer race, can already look forward to the Olympic Games in Paris next summer. The qualification can no longer be taken away from all three.
Difficult conditions: More wind and waves
On Thursday over 4 x 1500 meters, Klemet had to admit defeat to Australian Kyle Lee in the photo finish. 0.2 seconds separated the two at the end. The Italian relay secured the victory. Silver went to Hungary.
“In the end he was actually in front, had the medal in his pocket and made a very stupid touch error,” said long-distance national coach Bernd Berkhahn, who trains Klemet in Magdeburg. “The Australian did it smarter.” Berkhahn also said: “Olli was already very exhausted. You could tell that the other two races put him down quite a bit. He couldn’t cope with the waves at all. He’s just too light for that. Then he breathed with every move, swam very laboriously. That wasn’t good.”
wind and waves
Klemet talked about hitting the board at the finish line “not so well caught” to have. The 21-year-old added to his race: “You have to learn from it and do better next time.” With more wind and waves, the conditions were more difficult than at the previous World Championship competitions.
Muffels, for whom it was the last appearance at a major event, said: “Fourth place is obviously unfortunate. But we’ve left the other nations miles behind in the Team Trophy. We can be very proud of that as a team.”