WM in Singapore
Märtens “very relaxed”: German duo has medal opportunities
His first race after the great gold triumph does not run as planned for Märtens. He still has medal opportunities on Wednesday. One of the biggest competitors comes from their own national team.
In the knowledge of the gold medal already won, Lukas Märtens was emphasized. “My target is fulfilled here, so I’m very relaxed,” said the world champion over 400 meters freestyle in the catacombs of the Singapore World Cup swimming pool.
The 23-year-old is also over twice the distance candidate. However, Märtens noticed around 40 hours after his triumph that it does not run by itself despite the title boost. He only achieved the 800-meter final as seventh of the preliminaries. His gold race on Sunday was still in his bones.
Märtens: “What do I have to lose?”
“I didn’t feel particularly good. That’s why I didn’t expect a super fast time,” said Märtens, who struck after 7: 45.54 minutes. “I didn’t want to go all in now either.” He explained: “I swam the 800 this season. What do I have to lose?”
In fact, Märtens reached his biggest World Cup destination on the first day. He is now an Olympic champion, world record holder and world champion over 400 meters. If he wins another title in Singapore, he would be the first German since Paul Biedermann 2009 to get two gold medals in the pool at a World Cup. This is possible – not optimal lead or not.
Schwarz: “Nobody really wanted to put the cards on the table”
“It was a bit of a sniff. Let’s see what the others do,” analyzed the second German hopeful Sven Schwarz. “Nobody really wanted to put the cards on the table.” With a view of Ahmed Jaouadi, who moved into the finale on Wednesday (1:02 p.m. CEST), he added: “Except for the Tunisian in advance.”
Five or six swimmers are eligible for the medals. He himself includes the world’s best and preliminary dragon and Märtens, who swam the second fastest time so far this year.
Black goes his own way
Märtens’ title on the first day of the pelvic competitions gave the team “a lot of tailwind”, said Schwarz. The 23-year-old is the next strongly emerging German long-distance swimmer and, like Märtens, Florian Wellbrock and Oliver Klemet, has what it takes to become world champion.
“It pushes you and motivates you that the competition in your own country is so strong on the routes. You want that on more stretches,” said Märtens recently. “That drives us to even better performance.”
In contrast to the best German pelvic swimmer, Wellbrock and Klemet, Schwarz is not part of the Magdeburg training group of national coach Bernd Berkhahn. “Of course we are friends, but there is still a certain competition,” he said before the World Cup.
He has been working with coach Emil Guliyev for years and trains in Hanover. “He has a different philosophy than Bernd,” said Schwarz. “It shows that there is not just one way.” One thing is the same for him and Märtens before the big showdown this Wednesday: “Now it is time to charge everything,” said Schwarz.
dpa
Source: Stern
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