Bucher had to “detention” for the World Cup final: “Now I’m really at the top”

Simon Bucher was the Austrian ray of hope at the start of the pool competitions of the swimming world championships in Fukuoka. The man from Linz made it into today’s final of the top eight (13:46 CEST live on ORF Sport Plus) over the 50 meter dolphin, which is just a sideline for the 23-year-old. However, Bucher had to do “detention” for this. Since the Austrian and Dylan Carter from Trinidad and Tobago swam the eighth fastest time in the semifinals in 23.05 seconds (Austrian record for Bucher), the two had to go into a so-called swim-off. In the man-to-man duel, the Upper Austrian got off to a slightly better start. An advantage he didn’t give up until the very end, eventually clocking in at 23.10, which was 16 hundredths faster than Carter.

“I was so happy after the attack, I really hit the water once,” said Bucher, who had rarely cheered so impulsively. Even before his specialty, the 100 meter dolphin that follows on Friday, he is happy to have secured a place in the final. “It’s unbelievable. Now I’m really at the forefront,” said Bucher. Even if he “only” made the leap into the decision via the swim-off, a lot is possible over the short sprint distance. “In the final, every hundredth counts, anything can happen there,” the ASV Linz athlete wants to “rip everything apart” today.

Shattered medal dream

Bucher’s swim-off was also the red-white-red highlight of the first day because Felix Auböck, who traveled to Japan with medal ambitions, did not get past the last and eighth final place on his main course, the 400 meter crawl. The 26-year-old, who fell behind in the second half of the race, was just over two seconds off the podium in 3:44.33 minutes, which was led by Australian Samuel Short (3:40.68). “Of course I wanted more, but that’s acceptable,” said the Lower Austrian. During the race he noticed that apart from the first two, the field was quite close together. “I mean, eighth, fourth, fifth, we were all within a couple of tenths. It’s annoying that I’m last then,” said Auböck that the first three were too fast for him yesterday.

Bernhard Reitshammer finished his first of a total of five World Championship starts in 16th place over 100 meters breaststroke. “Semi-finals are a good start to the World Cup. But on the other hand, it’s not very gratifying if you can’t perform at your best,” he said of his time of 1:00.67 minutes.