“It’s a surprise, but don’t let that upset me. Because the big goal was the final,” said the overjoyed Aubock in the Duna Arena. “I knew I was in good spirits.”
On Monday, the Lower Austrian would like to go one step further. In any case, the competition swam 100 percent, “only the two fastest maybe not,” he emphasized. He left it open whether Auböck would also swim the pre-run over 800 m freestyle in the morning. “Second place changes a lot,” he said and was ready to joke about his evening work: “Now I’m going to the cinema.”
Aubock comes back impressive
The day before, Auböck had even beaten the best time twice over his 400 m freestyle parade route, by a total of 33 hundredths. Nevertheless, as at the Olympics in Tokyo, it just wasn’t enough for precious metal. “It was important for me to come back,” he said the following morning.
Such a situation is difficult, explained the Kraul specialist, “but not something I go into unprepared and helpless”. In recent years, Auböck has “grown so much” as an athlete. Of course you can’t completely forget the disappointment, but he suppresses “processing until the end of the whole competition”.
“The shape is right”
Aubock found fun again. “The hard thing after a race like this is getting up in the morning and getting ready. But when you’re back in the water, you know why you’re doing it,” said Bad Vöslauer. “The shape is definitely right.”
And Mama Aubock, who personally stopped by Budapest, reminded her son of the important things. “You have to imagine how extraordinary it is what you can do,” revealed Austria’s swimming star of his mother’s advice.
Kreundl clearly missed the semifinals
In the Hungarian capital, Lena Kreundl swam the 100m breaststroke in a time of 1:11.24 minutes on Sunday morning and clearly missed the semifinals in 37th place. “It was nothing,” said the 24-year-old annoyed. Bernhard Reitshammer (100 m backstroke), who wants to rest for the other tasks in Budapest, decided not to start. Marlene Kahler also skipped the 1,500 m crawl, the Lower Austrian’s full focus is on the 200 m crawl on Monday.
