Image: GEPA pictures/Philipp Brem
The 23-year-old achieved his greatest success to date on the long course of the Doha title fights on Saturday, coming within a tenth of his OSV record in 51.28 seconds. The title went to the Portuguese Diogo Matos Ribeiro in 51.17, the third-placed Pole Jakub Majerski distanced Bucher by 0.04 seconds. On Wednesday, the Upper Austrian Martin Espernberger took bronze in the 200 m dolphin.
- Also read: Linz swimmer Espernberger surprisingly won bronze at the World Championships
Bucher was in third place at the turn, threatened to fall out of the medal positions on the second pitch, but showed a good finish with a good touch. Ultimately, he was only 0.11 seconds short of the first Austrian long track world championship title. “I can’t find the words. I’m so happy about my first (World Cup; note) medal. The last 15 m were very hard, but we trained very hard for it. And here I am.” The mother of the athlete, who trains in Linz, witnessed her son’s triumph in the hall, and Bucher’s teammates were also gathered in the stands.
One of them is Bernhard Reitshammer. Bucher’s close compatriot finished 31st in the 50 backstroke in the morning with a time of 26.33 seconds. On Sunday the OSV will be fighting for an Olympic quota place in the 4 x 100 medley, with Reitshammer, Bucher, Valentin Bayer and Heiko Gigler taking part.
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I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
