The goal was to be among the top 16, and now it’s fourth place! Bernhard Reitshammer delivered the biggest surprise of the World Swimming Championships in Budapest from an Austrian point of view: The ASV Linz athlete remained in yesterday’s final over 50 meters breaststroke in 26.94 seconds (Austrian record) for the first time below the 27-second “sound barrier”. ” and finished fourth, 49 hundredths of a second behind World Champion Nic Fink (USA). The 22 hundredths on bronze were to get over in view of the surprise. “I’m just happy at the moment. I never expected anything like that, but I’m all the happier,” said the 28-year-old.
“We knew that Börni could do it under 27 seconds if he got it right,” said national coach Florian Zimmermann with his protégé, who had already improved his Austrian record both in the semi-finals and in the preliminary heat. Nevertheless, after the best long course result of his career so far, Reitshammer still saw room for improvement.
It was Austria’s third final appearance at this World Cup. Felix Auböck (4th, 5th) was responsible for the two before, who kept his fingers crossed for Reitshammer in the stands. “I’ll be there until the end, cheering for the team. They did it for me and I will do it for them too,” said the 25-year-old.
“Evil Dolls” on course for bronze
The synchronized swimmers Anna-Maria and Eirini Alexandri finished third yesterday in tomorrow’s final of the Free Freestyle, giving them a good chance of another World Championship medal four days after bronze in the Technical Freestyle. With their improved Olympic choreography “Bosse Puppen”, which was enough for seventh place in Tokyo, the Alexandri duet missed their own record (92.2332 points) by a little and ended up with 92.0667 behind China and Ukraine third intermediate. “We are very satisfied, in the end we were very tired. There was still a little lack of energy,” said Anna-Maria Alexandri. “We now have a medal and can swim a little more easily,” emphasized the two. Possibly a good omen: The Alexandris also managed a bronze double at last year’s European Championships in Budapest.
Already today her sister Vasiliki (4 p.m.) is swimming for a medal in the free solo freestyle.
Source: Nachrichten
