The very first thing Lukas Märtens needed in the interview zone was a towel. Sweat was pouring down the Magdeburger, so he was glad when a helper gave him one. The 21-year-old was only partially happy about the congratulations that overtook him for the bronze medal in the 400-meter freestyle. “I’m happy with the place, but given the time I was hoping for a bit more.” And that on an evening when a world record was set for men in another individual race: Frenchman Leon Marchand undercut Michael Phelps’ record from August 2008 by 1.35 seconds over 400 meters – and now brought TV commentator Phelps into raptures in Fukuoka.
Märtens surprisingly won silver at the World Championships in Budapest in the summer of 2022. Bronze is now the first medal in Fukuoka for the German pool swimmers – and the second ever for the freestyle expert on the world stage. His success can also be attributed to the training group around open water world champion Florian Wellbrock, with whom Märtens trains in his hometown. But Märtens couldn’t get close to the new world champion Samuel Short from Australia and the second-placed Tunisian Ahmend Hafnaoui.
Open detailed view
Märtens (right) is cautiously happy next to the winner Samuel Short (middle) and the second-placed Ahmed Hafnaoui.
(Photo: Lee Jin-man/AP)
Märtens had meticulously prepared for the World Cup with Wellbrock and the others in June in the Sierra Nevada in Spain in the high-altitude training camp – and also observed the downsides there: “It’s four weeks up there in complete isolation from the outside world, with nothing but training. You have to want that. But there’s no way around it at this level,” he said before the start of the World Cup. Nevertheless, he quarreled in Fukuoka: “I would have hoped for a bit more in terms of condition and fitness.”
However, the medal is a great success for Märtens, who then comforted his disappointed girlfriend Isabel Gose, who only finished seventh in her final over the same distance. Rapid regeneration is now pending: Because Märtens plans to start in Fukuoka over 200, 800, 1500 and over the 4×200 meter freestyle relay.
