When the German mixed relay crossed the finish line in fourth place at the swimming world championships in Fukuoka on Thursday in Momochi Seaside Park, the disappointment was palpable. Leonie Beck, Lea Boy, Rob Muffels and Oliver Klemet missed the fifth gold in the fifth and last open water competition – and with it a new world championship record. The dominance in Fukuoka is still striking. Beck and Florian Wellbrock, who saved himself this time for his pelvic races (who knows what the relay would have achieved with him), have each become world champions twice, over 5 and 10 kilometers. German swimming did not even develop such a force at the wedding of record world champions Thomas Lurz and Britta Kamrau in open water at the beginning of the 2000s.
