BERLIN, Germany, June 27. AFTER strolling through a prelim swim en route to a world record in the women's 100 free earlier in the German Long Course Nationals, Britta Steffen put together an astonishing swim during the event finale.
Steffen, who earlier in the meet clipped Libby Trickett's global standard with a 52.85, absolutely smashed her prelim time with a 52.56.
Here are the comparative splits between the two swims:
Prelims: 25.81, 52.85 (27.04)
Finals: 25.30, 52.56 (27.26)
Daniela Samulski finished second in 54.44, while Daniela Schreiber placed third in 54.49.
Paul Biedermann broke one of the longest standing records in the German books with a swift 3:46.67 in the men's 400 free. That performance clipped Uwe Dassler's mark of 3:46.95 set at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Christian Kubusch placed second in 3:48.49, while Clemens Rapp touched third in 3:50.22.
Biedermann kept the ball rolling during an incredible evening with a 48.39 to set the German mark in the men's 100 free. The readout bettered the 48.55 set by Steffen Deibler in April 2008. Deibler took second in 49.10, while Markus Deibler finished third in 49.55.
In an exciting event finale, a trio of German swimmers broke the 1:00 barrier in the men's 100 breast, smashing Johannes Neumann's national record of 1:00.45 set in December 2008. Hendrik Feldwehr finished the swim a full second ahead of the standard with a 59.45, while Neumann (59.63) and Marco Koch (59.80) joined him under the previous mark.
In other finals action, Sarah Poewe held off Caroline Ruhnau, 1:07.57 to 1:07.87, for the women's 100 breast victory. Kerstin Vogel claimed third in 1:08.34. Jaana Ehmcke cruised in the women's 400 free with a 4:12.45 for the win. Franziska Jansen (4:14.52) and Katharina David (4:15.97) completed the top three.
Toni Embacher cleared 2:00 in the men's 200 fly with a winning effort of 1:58.49. Tim Wallburger grabbed second in 2:00.47, while Marcel Selinger turned in a third-place time of 2:01.19. Fransizka Hentke garnered the women's 200 fly title in 2:08.00. Annika Mehlhorn snatched second in 2:09.46, while Katharina Schiller took third in 2:12.45.
Felix Wolf walked home with the men's 200 back crown in 1:58.03, while Yannick Lebherz finished second in 1:58.57. Jan-Philip Glania touched third in 1:59.59. Jenny Mensing captured the women's 200 back title in 2:12.60 with Christin Zenner (2:14.62) and Lisa Graf (2:16.10) rounding out the podium.
Isabelle Harle topped the women's 1500 free in 16:25.87, while Sarah Kohler took second in 16:52.38. David wound up third in 16:56.09.