Interview
A lot had been expected of Florian Wellbrock before the Olympics. He did not disappoint hopes. After bronze in the pool, he now swam to gold in open water. And impressed even his biggest competitors.
There is no real medal collector in the German team at the Olympics in Tokyo. Only two athletes have won precious metals twice: the dressage rider Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and: swimmer Florian Wellbrock. Last week, the 23-year-old ended the long medalless time in the pool for the men in the German Swimming Association with his bronze medal over 800 meters. Last night, the reigning world champion won gold over the ten kilometers in open water swimming in Tokyo Bay. Even the competitors were full of praise: “Florian was on another planet today,” said bronze winner Gregorio Paltrinieri from Italy. It was also an almost historic gold. Since Michael Groß’s Olympic victory 33 years ago, the DSV had been waiting for a men’s swimming gold medal. At that time, Uwe Daßler also won gold for the GDR.
Florian Wellbrock, the first German Olympic swimming champion since 1988 – how does that sound?
It’s a little unreal. I actually felt a bit frustrated after the pool competitions. The 800 meters of crawl didn’t go quite that well and I got over 1500 from the American (Editor’s note: winner Robert Finke) also get a little damper, which you could not necessarily expect. That gave me another huge motivation for the last race. I knew it was the last race. I’ve already won the medal for the DSV, there isn’t much to lose. That’s why I just threw everything in again and was rewarded with gold today with a very confident race. That feels incredibly good.
Before the race, the national coach had said that you should actually save a little energy at the beginning. Now you’ve gone straight to the front. Didn’t you listen to him or was that a bluff by Bernd Berkhahn?
No. In itself it makes a lot of sense to save energy in such a marathon race. I actually did that too. I went around the first buoy on the first lap, looked around and thought: guys, don’t you want to swim a competition today? I think a lot of people were quite intimidated by the water temperature and I’ve already noticed during training over the past few days that it doesn’t feel so much warmer than a swimming pool. It won’t be a problem for me in the beginning. In the last lap it got relatively warm. If I had to swim 100 meters more than I swam in the end, it would probably have been pretty tight. I stopped the last feeding and then of course a lot of liquid is missing. The fact that I got through so well with my sprint, which I put on at the end, actually surprised me.
Florian Wellbrock: Thought of victory only ten meters from the finish
When did you think it was going to be gold?
When I went into the last lap, I knew: I’m swimming for a medal up here now. This feeling “I’ll be the same as an Olympic champion” came only ten meters from the end. On the last straight I wasn’t sure: is there anyone I miss in the hustle and bustle? That can always happen.
Have you already spoken to your family or your fiancé Sarah Köhler (bronze over 1500 meters freestyle) in Germany?
I called earlier. We facetimed briefly. Sarah is at home with my parents. The three of you watched the race. They were also a bit flabbergasted and didn’t really know what to say. They did not expect such a strong conclusion.
You ended up lying on the pier pretty exhausted, had a drink and got a towel. What was going on inside you?
I had a bit of breathing problems at the end. I noticed that the body was slowly overheating here. I asked for water straight away and was given cold water. It was very good that you could start cooling your body down a bit. On the last straight, where I really fired everything in again, the body naturally heats up insanely at the temperatures. The sun flashed down from above, so I was very happy that I got a cold, wet towel.
What does this victory and the medal you have just put on yours mean to you?
I don’t really know that yet. First of all, it’s an incredibly cool feeling to say you’re an Olympic Champion. It has not happened for a long time. Even when I look at the progress of the competitions that I have improved from time to time, got better and better and got stronger and stronger: That gives you so much self-confidence and motivation for the years to come. In order to really put that into the right words, I still need a bit of space.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
