In the very first World Championship competition in Fukuoka, Leonie Beck gave the German swimmers gold. The European open water champion bought her Olympic ticket and was crowned individual world champion for the first time.
As the national anthem sounded, Leonie Beck looked for the German flag – and found it with a grin on a screen on the roof of a van. It was the only time that the new open water world champion briefly lost her bearings: In the sea off Fukuoka, the 26-year-old had stalked her competitors for more than ten kilometers and then overtook them with a spectacular final sprint.
“I was the one who wanted it the most. I swam for my life,” said Beck, who couldn’t explain exactly how she passed Australian Chelsea Gubecka and American Katie Grimes at the last buoy. In the camera images, she initially moved to the right, but in the next long shot she was suddenly two lengths ahead. “That’s how I perceived it too,” said the European champion from Rome, laughing.
“I did everything right tactically”
After a good half of the distance, the Würzburg native, who has been living and training in Italy for two years, was 17.9 seconds behind in 17th place – no need to panic. “I didn’t want to waste so much energy at the beginning,” she explained: “Everything worked well, I divided my strength well, everything was fine. Tactically, I did everything right.”
After the strong finish and the attack 4.1 seconds ahead of Gubecka, Beck was already thinking about a year ahead. “Being world champion is very special,” she said, “but qualifying for the Olympics now was all I wanted here.” As one of the first three, she already bought the ticket for Paris 2024 – she can approach the next World Cup in February in a relaxed manner. Her Würzburg club colleague Lea Boy, on the other hand, has to invest everything: after seventh place in the Momochi Seaside Park, 38.9 seconds behind, the 23-year-old gets a second chance at the Olympics in Qatar.
The fact that the German anthem sounded immediately after the first medal decision at the World Championships was rated by competitive sports director Christian Hansmann from the German Swimming Association (DSV) as a “made-to-measure start”. The former open water swimmer didn’t know when that was last. For Beck, who has been in the absolute world class since the Corona compulsory break, Hansmann found only the highest praise: “She pulled her own boot through, swam her own tactics, that paid off.”
Training in Italy benefits Beck
The Würzburg native made an enormous leap in performance after her fifth place at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, after which she switched to the Italian training group around superstar Gregorio Paltrinieri just outside Rome. “She’s training in the sea in Italy, that’s good for her,” said Hansmann. “It’s something new, you develop further,” said Beck herself about her move to Ostia, “I have a super cool training group, she’s my second family.”
Even if she has already achieved her most important goal in Japan, she wants to further expand her World Cup record. “Everything that comes now is a bonus,” said Beck, who has won four medals at world championships so far, “but I’ll continue to give 110 percent.” Over five kilometers and in the relay she is still at the start.