European Aquatics Championships: German Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay Wins Bronze in National Record Time Led by Olympic Champion Lukas Märtens

At the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, the German men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay team secured the bronze medal in a national record time of 7:02.28 minutes, according to reports from the tournament. Led by Lukas Märtens as the start swimmer, alongside Timo Sorgius, Jarno Bäschnitt, and Cornelius Jahn, the quartet delivered the first pool medal for the German Swimming Federation (DSV) at the meet.

The performance at the Centre Aquatique Olympique at the Stade de France saw the team clip nearly a full second off the previous national record of 7:03.19 minutes, which had stood since 2009 and was set by a squad featuring Paul Biedermann. Great Britain captured gold in 7:01.52 minutes, while France took silver in 7:02.23 minutes.

A Dramatic Comeback in the Pool

The race unfolded with significant shifts in position across the four legs. Märtens opened the final for the DSV squad but handed over to Sorgius in seventh place. Sorgius closed the gap on the field, bringing the team back into medal contention, before Bäschnitt advanced the team further into second place.

Cornelius Jahn, primarily a backstroke specialist who entered the relay as a replacement for open-water European champion Oliver Klemet—who shortened his program after competing in the Seine—swam the anchor leg to preserve the podium finish. According to Sportschau, Märtens expressed immense pride in his teammates following the finish, highlighting Jahn’s composure on the final leg.

“I am incredibly proud. I cannot even describe what we achieved today, what the guys did,” Märtens said, as reported by Eurosport. “How we finished it, how Cornelius in particular finished it—that is indescribable, you can’t put it into words.”

Chasing Historic Precedents

The bronze medal marks the first time a German men’s 4x200m freestyle relay has reached the European Championship podium in twelve years. The last medal on this exact distance came in 2014 in Berlin, where Biedermann anchored a German quartet to the gold medal. Märtens, who broke Biedermann’s long-standing 400m freestyle world record 16 months prior, acknowledged the significance of stepping into the historical footprints of his idol.

“That means a lot to me,” Märtens noted regarding the record and the shared history with Biedermann’s 2009 generation.

Mixed Fortunes for the DSV Squad in Paris

While the men’s freestyle relay celebrated a historic podium finish, other events brought near-misses for the German delegation. In the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay, the team consisting of Maya Tobehn, Linda Roth, Nina Holt, and anchor swimmer Nicole Maier finished in fourth place. Despite recording a national mark of 7:49.14 minutes, Maier lost the battle for third place by a single hundredth of a second on the final stretch.

In individual events, Finn Hammer placed fifth in the 400-meter individual medley final after posting the second-fastest time in the morning preliminaries. His club teammate Cedric Büssing finished fourth, missing the bronze medal by two and a half seconds. Meanwhile, double European champion Isabel Gose transitioned smoothly from her open-water races in the Seine to the indoor pool, posting the second-best preliminary time behind Italy’s Simona Quadarella in the 800-meter freestyle ahead of the final.

Next Checkpoints in Paris

Competition at the Centre Aquatique Olympique continues with upcoming finals and preliminary sessions. Isabel Gose and Maya Werner contest the 800m freestyle final, defending champion Melvin Imoudu races in the 100m breaststroke final, Luca Armbruster advances in the 50m butterfly following a national record performance of 22.71 seconds, and Lise Seidel features in the 200m backstroke final.