Double gold plus bronze in open water: After Leonie Beck, Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock also triumphed at the swimming world championships over 10 km. Oliver Klemet also surprised with third place.
Lorian Wellbrock hid in the shadows with a white towel on his head, but Leonie Beck spotted him. The two gold swimmers hugged each other beaming with joy – after a historic World Championships opener in Fukuoka, which already aroused anticipation of the Olympics. Because at the award ceremony on the beach of Momochi Seaside Park, the newly crowned open water world champions already had boarding cards with the words “Destination Paris” on them.
“The joy is huge,” said Olympic champion Wellbrock after his sovereign triumph over ten kilometers – one day after the thrilling final sprint victory of his teammate: “That’s a great result, a great start to this world championship.” The best German World Cup result over the Olympic distance was completed by high-flyer Oliver Klemet: the 21-year-old also booked a place on the Paris plane with bronze. “The only thing that would be better would be one and two,” said the Frankfurter surprisingly calm.
The day before, European Champion Beck had “swam for my life” with a spectacular finish, but Wellbrock’s victory on Sunday in the 26-degree sea off Fukuoka was never really in question. “I wanted to swim in front and set the pace to thin out the group,” the 25-year-old from Magdeburg explained his tactics: “I didn’t want us going into the final sprint with eight men.” So he had already swum ahead of the Hungarian Olympic silver medalist Kristof Rasovszky and Klemet when they headed towards the finish line. A 18.7 second lead wasn’t quite as clear as his Tokyo 2021 triumph, but it was an impressive display of strength.
“It’s complaining at a high level, but last year I looked into the tube,” said the now five-time world champion, looking back at the World Championships in Budapest, when he “only” got bronze on his parade route. Now the balance of power has been restored: “It’s important for me, for the team and for the fans that they see me at the top again.”
Swimming World Championship: Chocolate and ginger ale for Klemet
In the evening there was a Paris mascot and an “Olympia” chocolate bar in the team hotel for Germany’s swimming star and his new training colleague Klemet, who won his first individual World Championships medal – just like the day before for Beck. And a glass of ginger ale, “because it looks like sparkling wine,” reported DSV competitive sports director Christian Hansmann with a smile.
The 26-year-old Beck set the course in the very first World Cup decision in Fukuoka on Saturday. “I was the one who wanted it the most,” said the Würzburg native, 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 Beck, laughing, who was almost 20 seconds behind halfway: “I did everything right tactically.”
After a rest day, the hunt for medals continues. Over five kilometers, Beck early on Tuesday morning (1:00 a.m. CEST) as well as Wellbrock and Klemet two hours later are among the favorites again. “Everything that comes now is bonus,” said Beck on behalf.
While in Germany Wellbrock’s Magdeburg training group, to which Klemet has belonged for a year, sets the tone on the long distances, Beck has found the decisive boost in performance in Italy – with superstar Gregorio Paltrinieri and his team. “This is my second family,” said the native of Augsburg. And Wellbrock said appreciatively: “The change was really good for her, she’s in very good hands there.”