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Biedermann Throws Down 200m Gauntlet
Jul 4, 2010 - Craig Lord
World champion and record holder in 2009 (1:42.00), Paul Biedermann, SV Halle, shot to the helm of the 2010 world rankings with a 1:45.84 victory at German nationals and European Championship trials in Berlin this afternoon.
That effort, inside the 1:46.30 French record set by 18-year-old Yannick Agnel last month, sets up an intriguing continental clash in Budapest come August, when Biedermann will defend a crown he won in 2008 in 1:46.59. That was the moment that made Biedermann the first German to get inside the 1984 national record that had stood to legendary Michael Gross since 1984.
The 2010 German champion has swum faster than today's effort seven times, the four fastest of those seven clocked, of course, in a full 100% poly suit at Roma09 world titles last summer. Biedermann arrived at nationals with an aim of taking the helm of the world rankings for 2010 over 200m - and he did just that.
His best in textile, albeit a bodysuited moment, is 1:44.71. In Rome, he claimed the world crown in a stunning 1:42.00 to deliver a crushing defeat to Michael Phelps, Olympic champion, in the race and on the clock. It was that race and result which turned the tide on shiny suits: Bob Bowman, coach to Phelps, said that the greatest swimmer in the sport's history would not appear at any FINA event until the international federation had returned fairness to the race pool.
FINA had accepted the vote of Congress, 168 nations having voted to rid the sport of non-textile apparel and the bodysuit cut and return men to a suit cut for their gender, but had dithered on the date for a ban. The morning after Bowman's pronouncement, FINA set a date: January 1, 2010. In Rome, and gracious in victory, Biedermann, not in Phelps's league in 2008 but nonetheless disadvantaged by suits that year, backed the sentiment behind Bowman's conclusion.
For the record, on Independence Day, the American has raced inside Biedermann's best so far in 2010 18 times, seven of those in textile shorts, including the 1:43.86 world record he set to get past Ian Thorpe on the clock when lifting the 2007 world crown in Melbourne.
Biedermann's splits (not comparable given the very different race conditions, and not only on suits, but interesting in the detail of the pace):
And the textile WR of Phelps, Melbourne 2007:
24.47; 26.53 (51.00); 26.73 (1:17.73) 26.13 (1:43.86)
The silver in Berlin went to Tim Wallburger in 1:48.47, 0.12sec shy of the cut for Budapest, the bronze to Robin Backhaus, in 1:48.99, fourth to Clemens Rapp 1:49.64, while two others cracked 1:50 and Germany has access to a quartet capable of making the podium in Budapest.
In other action on the last day of nationals:
Men's 100m backstroke
German record holder Helge Meeuw is bypassing Budapest at a time when studies and injury have placed his swimming on a back foot. In his absence today, Stefan Herbst, SSG Leipzig, claimed the national title in 55.36 at the end of a tight clash with Felix Wolf, on 55.99, and Jan-Philip Glania, on 56.27. None make the cut for Budapest though the champion may travel courtesy of Germany's medley relay should that quartet make the cut combined.
Women's 100m backstroke
In contrast with the men's race, the top two women will travel to Budapest as medal hopes: Jenny Mensing, SC Wiesbaden 1911, got the touch in 1:00.76 ahead of German record holder (59.77 in 2009) Daniela Samulski, SG Essen, on 1:00.88. Samnulski led at the turn in 28.92, to Mensing's 29.53 but the pretender stole the day and the crown on the way home. The bronze went to Lisa Graf in 1:02.54, with Silke Lippok and Christin Zenner also inside 1:03.
Men's 200m breaststroke
National record holder on 2:08.33 last year, Marco Koch, DSW 1912 Darmstadt, kept a firm grip on his German No1 status, victory in 2:12.37 leaving him 0.28sec inside the cut. In his wake came Christian vom Lehn, 18 this year, 2:14.01, and Johannes Neumann, a sub-2:10 swimmer last year, on 2:16.70.
Women's 200m breaststroke
No qualifiers for Budapest, as Caroline Ruhnau, SG Essen, took the crown 2secs shy of target in 2:30.21 (2009 best, 2:25.36), ahead of Sibylle Dalacker, 2:31.45, and Vanessa Grimberg, 2:32.85.
Women 50m free
Britta Steffen has not yet been ruled out of action in Budapest after a troubled 2010 season but the double Olympic and world champion is not racing this week in Berlin. While the cat was away, the mice playing for prizes and winning them were Dorothea Brandt, Steffen's SG Neukölln, Berlin teammate and champion in 24.88, that time the only one on the final to make the cut for Hungary; Sabine Rasch, SV Halle, in 25.47, and her clubmate Daniela Schreiber, 0.07sec away.
Women 100m butterfly
No qualifiers for Budapest but Sina Sutter, 18 and racing for SG Essen, clocked a German age-group record of 59.43, off a 27.70 split that reflected her race-long lead over national record holder Annika Melhorn (57.90 from 2009). Melhorn took silver in 1:00.33, the bronze going to Franziska Hentke, on 1:00.86.
So far, discounting the possible addition to the Germany team bound for Budapest of Britta Steffen, nine men and nine women have made selection on their times in solo events. relay selections are expected to boost the numbers.
The list of German swimmers to have made the cut for solo races at European Championships in Budapest:
Men
Women:
* - the 800m and 1,500m were not raced at trials in Berlin, but the swimmers named have swum inside the time cut at other events this year. The absence of these events from the Berlin programme means that, at least as far as the 122nd German Nationals are concerned, there is no German champion. Odd. Perhaps that says something about why Germany is much stronger at the shorter events, in general and in depth.
An explanation was provided as follows: "We have a different training structure and different intervals for the long distances than for the shorter distances. In order to be fit in Budapest, we need to do some longer stamina training again.” That is the view of theb three men at the helm of a German programme on the mend, Lutz Buschkow, performance director, Dirk Lange, head coach, and Jörg Hoffmann, former world 1,500m champion and the man overseeing basic training and conditioning in Germany.
The distance events were raced at German age group championships in early June with the view that those who did not make the grade could try again on Mare Nostrum Tour, a reader reveals.
Carrying that thought forward, there is a strong argument for having age-groupers take part in nationals with seniors, or at least in the same venue in the same week: important thing for youngsters to see their heroes up close. Beyond that, there is the crowd factor: juniors bring their families and the excitement and noise levels tend to rise with their numbers.
Germany this year has stuck to a time cut for team selections. Other leading European nations that used to have that system have since moved on in the direction of the USA: first two past the post, first four for relays guaranteed. The argument against that for weaker nations is that they simply do not have the depth to sustain a 1-2 system without ending up with weak teams that reward and carry trippers. In Britain, where that ailment was part of the picture some years back, Bill Sweetenham insisted on tough time targets.
Don Talbot, brought to Britain as a consultant, advised Sweetenham that by 2006 it was time to switch to first two past the post given the growing strength in British swimming. Some in Germany believe that Germany ought to go that way too, particularly at a time when the events of 2009 have dictated a period of settling in for swimmers trying to find their new level on the clock.
