The German water jumpers clearly missed their first medal at the start of the European Championship competitions in Rome.
In the pool, Lukas Märtens and Angelina Köhler did not swim into the medal ranks. Tina Punzel (Dresden), Elena Wassen, Lou Massenberg (both Berlin) and Timo Barthel (Halle/Saale) only jumped to fifth place with 367.15 points in the team event on Monday. 17.55 points were missing from bronze. Gold went to Italy ahead of Ukraine and Britain.
Punzel is to inherit Hausding
The Olympic third Punzel, who is to take over the leadership role after the resignation of the record European champion Patrick Hausding, jumped off the 3-meter board in singles and in mixed synchronization with Massenberg.
At the premiere of the four-man teams in 2019, the German Swimming Association (DSV) had won EM gold with Hausding and bronze last year. At the World Championships, where there are two people jumping, Wassen and Massenberg just missed out on medals in fourth place six weeks ago in Budapest.
Angelina Koehler fourth over 100 meters butterfly
Butterfly specialist Angelina Köhler took fourth place in the pool over 100 meters. In the final, the 21-year-old hit in 57.90 seconds. She was 63 hundredths of a second short of a medal. Louise Hansson from Sweden became European Champion in 56.66 seconds.
“Of course I was flirting with the medal a bit. But I can be really satisfied”, said Koehler and emphasized: “I’m still losing too much at the start and turns, but there’s still a lot of potential for the next few years.”
Märtens misses his second medal
Vice World Champion Lukas Märtens clearly missed his second medal. The 20-year-old from Magdeburg, who had already won silver in the 800 m freestyle, ended up in seventh place in the final over 200 m after 1:46.80 minutes. Gold went to the Romanian double world champion David Popovici (1:42.97).
“After the last turn I wanted to keep up, but somehow it didn’t work anymore. I think I did a lot of things right. Nevertheless, we have to work through the race”, said Martens.
Wellbrock sovereign in the final
Florian Wellbrock, on the other hand, was visibly satisfied. The German top swimmer could clearly see the joy of the long-awaited Rome premiere and the lackluster but sovereign entry into the European Championship final over 1500 meters freestyle. After days of waiting and training, the comeback after the Corona break was successful in the magnificent outdoor pool of the Foro Italico. With a delay, the Olympic champion is now also part of the big Italian swimming party.
“I really didn’t want to miss the opportunity to start here. I’ve never been here before”Wellbrock said after finishing fifth in Monday’s heat. “I’m fine overall. The race was okay so far”said Wellbrock, who had struck after 15:06.18 minutes.
increase is necessary
However, if the Olympic bronze medalist wants to fight for the medals on this course on Tuesday, he has to improve. Wellbrock knows that, but is easygoing. “We’ll be surprised if I can swim for the medals”said the 24-year-old. “But I don’t need to put too much pressure on myself. I just see what my body can give.”
Synchronized swimmers Bojer/zimmer again eighth
After eighth place in the free program, the synchronized swimmers Marlene Bojer and Michelle Zimmer completed the technical free program in a duet with the same place at the European Championships in Rome. The duo from Munich and Berlin achieved another personal best with 83.6096 points. Gold went to Ukraine ahead of Austria and Italy.