The SG Frankfurt swimmers were able to celebrate the German men’s team championship twice last year. The national title for 2022 was only awarded in February, and that for 2023 in December. The Hessians repeated their triumph even without Chad le Clos, who secured national Olympic qualification for Paris in his home country of South Africa.
In addition to the 31-year-old gold medalist from the London 2012 Games, open water swimmer Oliver Klemet has also secured his ticket to France after his bronze medal over ten kilometers at the World Championships in Fukuoka. SG sports director Michael Ulmer gives another six Frankfurters a chance to jump into the Défense Arena pool in the summer, especially the chest specialists Lucas Matzerath and Anna Elendt.
Four lanes for 20 athletes
While the third-place finisher at the European Championships is continuously improving, the silver medalist from 2022 has come to terms with her failure in the 100 meters at the World Championships in Japan. Muscular problems slowed the 22-year-old down. The US student starts the competition year under a new coach this week in Knoxville.
The top team in Hesse is struggling with difficult training conditions. The 20 members only have access to four lanes in the sports school of the State Sports Association (LSB) on weekdays and half of Saturdays. Sometimes, according to Ulmer, not a single one because courses and overnight guests block the pool. “I often only find out about this at short notice,” says the coordinator.
School holidays are particularly problematic. The facility in the Otto-Fleck-Schneise was closed for ten days over Christmas. Ulmer had to rent extra tracks in Bergen-Enkheim to ensure practice between the years. During the Easter holidays, the first team and the juniors, who otherwise also plow through the water at the LSBH, are sent to the training camp so that the top talent can use the little time in the day that the swimmers are allotted in addition to the numerous external bookings for themselves at home.
“Don’t fool us.”
“We can’t base our breaks on the school holidays,” emphasizes Ulmer. To his knowledge, there is no other base in Germany that has such poor conditions. The fact that a star like le Clos submits to this, even though he could run his programs elsewhere without restrictions, is solely due to the fact that the SG was able to lure former national coach Dirk Lange to the Main as head coach. “We’re not kidding ourselves,” says Ulmer. “If Dirk had gone somewhere else, Chad would be training there now.”
While le Clos also helps the youngsters as a local swimmer, other Frankfurters have moved on: Klemet, for example, to Magdeburg, where national coach Bernd Berkhahn is writing the plans for long-distance specialists, and Matzerath followed his long-time supervisor Mark Jayasundara to Bochum. According to Ulmer, the fact that the emigrants remain loyal to the SG is due to the fact that they can expect all kinds of help.
Michael Reinsch, Berlin Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3 Michael Reinsch, Berlin Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 22 Michael Reinsch Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 44
“I am available for you day and night.” However, manpower alone cannot permanently compensate for the difficulties. “We have had problems for a long time,” said the former coach. But the situation becomes more important as the sport of swimming develops at the top. Something needs to happen soon so that the SG remains successful in the future, he says.
