Wellbrock leads Germany in Rome

Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock will lead the team of German swimmers at the European Championships that will be staged in Rome from 11 to 21 August.

Two months after the world championships in Budapest (18 June - 3 July), the Olympic gold medallist is qualified in three events at Roma 2022: the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle events. In this last distance, he hopes to confirm the European title that he won in Glasgow in 2018. After the events in the pool, the 24-year-old swimmer will compete in Ostia to look for a medal in the open water events as well.

Top German athletes like Sarah Wellbrock, Christian Diener, Rafael Miroslaw and Eric Friese have decided not to participate in the European championships, as well as in the world championships in Budapest. After the 2021 Olympic summer they wanted to focus on work or studies. With 20 women and 16 men in their line-up, the number of German athletes is more than tripled compared to Budapest.

"A large number of athletes have reached the qualification standards for the European championships, and that is why we are now in the possibility to enter a fourth athlete in some of the events. We have selected Marek Ulrich, who is specialised in the backstroke, to support our relays and to let him get experiencefor the Paris 2024 Olympic finals," explains Sports Director Christian Hansmann.

But that is not all. There will be a further chance to qualify for Roma 2022 during the German championships in Berlin (23-26 June). Individual qualifications for all events are still up for grabs, as are spots in the relays. The selection guidelines have been changed in view of the 2024 Olympic Games. We want to offer another opportunity to grow after the difficult period of the pandemic," adds Hansmann.

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