Sven Schwarz missed out on a medal in the 800 m freestyle at the World Swimming Championships in Doha.
The 22-year-old from Hanover came fourth in the final on Wednesday in 7:44.29 minutes, but secured his ticket to the Olympic Games in Paris ahead of Florian Wellbrock on this route.
“The main thing is fourth place”
“I qualified for the final in third place, of course you always want a medal,” said Schwarz, but the main thing was fourth place, “so I’ve definitely been nominated for the Olympic Games, it’s my first time.” To assert myself “in our country” with swimmers like Wellbrock, Lukas Märtens and Oliver Klemet, “to have that for sure, that was my dream, and it has come true.”
European record holder Daniel Wiffen from Ireland won gold ahead of Australian Elijah Winnington, vice world champion in the 400 m, and Italian Olympic silver medalist and European champion Gregorio Paltrinieri.
Wellbrock is looking for his momentum
Open water Olympic champion Wellbrock had failed in the preliminary round the day before, as he did at the last World Championships in Fukuoka. In 7:48.17 minutes, the 26-year-old missed the final in tenth place, and the Tunisian defending champion Ahmed Hafnaoui was also eliminated in 18th place.
On Saturday, Wellbrock and Schwarz still have the 1,500 m. On this route, too, Wellbrock, alongside Schwarz, is still fighting for early qualification for the Summer Games after his qualifying exit in Japan.
Matzerath fifth over 50 meters
Breaststroke swimmer Lucas Matzerath also missed the podium again at the World Championships. The 23-year-old came fifth on Wednesday over 50 m in a personal best time of 26.80 seconds, only a hundredth of a second above the German record. On Monday, the Frankfurter swam to seventh place over twice the distance.
Australian Sam Williamson won gold, while Nicolo Martinenghi from Italy, already second in the World Championships over twice the distance, took silver. Bronze went to 100m world champion Nic Fink from the USA. British world record holder Adam Peaty, who is making his World Cup comeback after mental problems in Qatar, came fourth. The German record holder Melvin Imoudu (Potsdam) was eliminated in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
