In the heats in Japan, Bernhard Reitshammer, Valentin Bayer, Simon Bucher and Heiko Gigler finished eleventh in 3:34.58 minutes, so this time is in the qualification ranking. The best mark from the two World Cups counts for each team, and the top 16 take part in the games. It’s a lot tighter for the OSV women, 8:05.77 minutes meant 16th place in Fukuoka. Things get serious here in Qatar on Thursday, with the men’s medley relay at the end of the World Cup on Sunday.
Bayer did not have an individual limit for the World Cup, he is concentrating entirely on his relay team. After the preliminary run-out (22nd) over 50 meters freestyle, Gigler will tackle the 100 meters freestyle on Friday. “I think we can still make up places in the relay. The final is the goal,” said the Carinthian. However, starting swimmer Reitshammer was slow to gain momentum in the World Championships; he opened with the back part. “Things usually get a little better during the season. I think it will be fine then,” the Tyrolean encouraged himself.
GEPA/Philipp Brem Bernhard Reitshammer is supposed to lead the OSV men into the final as starting swimmer
There was another relay training session in mid-January, which focused primarily on handovers. “We got a routine into the relay starts. We’re all in a pretty good mood. If we can deliver our individual performances, the final should be over,” Bucher explained before the start of the World Cup. OSV sports director Walter Bär is less worried about the men’s qualifications, but things could get tight for the women.
“We delivered once”
“We delivered once, the others have to follow suit,” explained Bär. However, this time there are new seasons compared to Fukuoka, so an increase in the OSV quartet will be necessary. Lena Kreundl, Marlene Kahler, Cornelia Pammer and Lena Opatril swam in Fukuoka. Pammer then suffered a torn labrum in his hip. The Upper Austrian underwent surgery in the fall and is now missing from Doha.
In this respect, it is a stroke of luck that Iris Julia Berger no longer swims for Germany, but for Austria. She is also currently the fastest Austrian in the 200 m freestyle and improved her best time again on Tuesday in the individual heat. “That would be really awesome. “That was always my dream,” Berger said about the goal of getting an Olympic ticket. “But for me just the thought of the opportunity is still very surreal. We would definitely dance with joy.”
In the ejector seat
Kreundl had a positive feeling about the 200 m individual medley on Sunday despite being out of the lead. “I’m sure that we girls will rock it,” said the Upper Austrian confidently. “We are in the ejection seat with 16th place, the other nations will try to get in there and we have to defend our place. Difficult, but not impossible. This will be very exciting. We definitely have to swim four really good times.”
While in the case of Olympic qualification the red-white-red quartet for the men will probably remain unchanged, for the women until the ÖOC nomination, teams other than the Doha team also have a chance of making it into the lineup – especially Pammer. With her 2:00.20 minutes, Berger currently has the fastest time, Opatril the slowest with 2:01.38. Bär expects an invigorating competition. “I hope that the benchmark will be set even higher in the next few months.”
