Leonie Beck also missed out on a medal in open water swimming over five kilometers at the World Championships in Qatar. On Wednesday (February 7th, 2024) the defending champion came in 14th place.
The 26-year-old finished in 57:56.60 minutes, 22.70 seconds slower than Sharon van Rouwendaal. The Dutchwoman was crowned double world champion in Doha after already winning over ten kilometers. Second place went to Chelsea Gubecka from Australia, third was the Brazilian Ana Marcela Cunha. Jeannette Spiwoks took 16th place.
“It was an extremely hard race. I almost lost touch on the second lap, but was able to fight back.”reported Spiwoks.
Beck can’t keep up with the pace
After a somewhat slower start, Beck went into the last 1.7 kilometers in tenth place, nine seconds behind. But since the pace was massively increased at the front, she had no chance of catching up, nor did Spiwoks.
The Bavarian Beck, who lives and trains in Italy, has won five World Cup medals in her career so far. At the last World Championships in Japan, Beck even won gold twice. This time the ten-kilometer race didn’t go as planned. After 20th place in a water temperature of around 20 degrees, Beck was very cold and said: “Cold water is not my thing.” At the Olympic Games in Paris, where the open water races take place in the Seine, the former pool swimmer is still one of the top favorites.