Frithjof Seidel is a synchronized swimmer and that alone makes him a pioneer. Now he has also won a historic medal.
Frithjof Seidel was actually interested in great pioneering work right from the start, but he still took the first steps on a very small scale. At the age of five he learned the basics of his new sport, practically starting from scratch – and as a grown man in synchronized swimming was a real exotic.
Only three years later, Seidel has long since outgrown these beginnings, and he achieved historic things at the European Games in Poland. “It’s nice to have taken a step in this sport that no one has taken before”, he said on Friday and smiled. He had just won silver in the free combination and was the first man in the history of the European Championship to win a team medal.
First European Championship medal in 40 years
In terms of sport, that’s a big number in itself, for the German Swimming Association (DSV) it was the first European Championship medal in 40 years. Seidel, who used to be a water jumper, started with nine teammates, and he sees it as a mission. It be him “a personal concern. That more men and especially more boys go into the sport and try themselves out”said the 26-year-old: “Because that’s the future, that’s where sport is developing: that everyone takes part.”
Men admitted to the team for the first time at the Olympics in Paris
Men have only been allowed to compete internationally in team competitions since this season, and they will also be allowed to start at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris for the first time. At world championships, however, men were allowed to take part in mixed duet for the first time in 2015, and so there are now definitely nations in which there are young men in this sport.
Germany is still hanging there “a little behind”, says Seidel. He wants to help change that. The idea, however, came from someone else. Michelle Zimmer, a club colleague at Berliner SC Wedding, approached him in 2020. “The sport was looking for men and she asked if I didn’t know anyone.” Seidel pondered a bit – and then did it himself: “I had just stopped diving, which was fine.”
He also competed with Zimmer in a mixed duet at the European Championships on Saturday and took sixth place. In mid-July he will be part of a German World Cup team for the first time in Japan. Olympia 2024, says Seidel, is still too early in terms of performance, but nothing is out of the question for 2028. Just as important as one’s own successes: being visible – and giving others ideas.