Editorial content for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships is sponsored by FINIS, a longtime partner of Swimming World and leading innovator of suits, goggles and equipment. After Double Open Water Gold, Florian Wellbrock Prepared to Lead Pool Distance Charge in Fukuoka The first order of business in Fukuoka was ensuring Olympic qualification in the 10-kilometer open water swim. Florian Wellbrock checked that off in style, winning gold by more than 18 seconds Sunday morning, the second 10K title of his career and his fifth overall World Championships gold medal between pool and open water competition. Swimming from the front and dictating the pace from the beginning, the race went exactly as the 25-year-old German had planned. “I really enjoy deciding where we have to go, what pace we have to go,” Wellbrock said. “That’s really fun for me, to be the leader for the whole race and decide what we have to do.” That swim was No. 1 of a potential four finals in which Wellbrock will race at the World Championships, a series of distance swims spread out over more than two weeks. The second of those races was similarly successful as Wellbrock won 5K gold by 4.5 seconds. It could have been five races, but Wellbrock chose to skip the 6K team relay. With open water complete, Wellbrock will make the short trip to Marine Messe Fukuoka to focus on the pool competition. The 800 freestyle heats will take place the morning of Tuesday, July 25, with the final the following evening, and he will conclude the meet with the 1500 free July 29-30. Yes, that’s a long stretch of time for Wellbrock to remain in peak racing condition, but this schedule of racing has worked out perfectly in the past. Back in 2019, he was the 10K world champion before winning gold in the 1500 free pool competition two weeks later. Florian Wellbrock — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto However, at the last two major competitions, Wellbrock has not obtained all the results he sought in the pool. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Wellbrock dominated the field in the 10K, but in the pool competition, he surrendered the lead on the final lap in both his finals appearances. In the 800 free, he fell all the way to fourth as Bobby Finke, Gregorio Paltrinieri and Mykhailo Romanchuk all went ahead of him, and in the 1500, Finke and Romanchuk blasted ahead, leaving Wellbrock with the bronze. The following year, it was circumstances that prevented Wellbrock from the performance he hoped for. Yes, Finke still blasted ahead of Romanchuk on the final length of both the 800 and 1500 finals, but Wellbrock showed fight this time, with much improved finishing speed indicating a serious focus in practice over the proceeding year. He went straight from the pool to open water and won a pair of golds, but with open water beginning just hours after the 1500 final, Wellbrock was exhausted by the time he reached the 10K, his fourth medal race in five days, and he faded to third. Even before these most recent open water titles, Wellbrock had set himself up for a potential return to the top of the podium in the mile in 2023. In April, he swam a time of 14:34.89 in the event, becoming the third-fastest performer in history behind only Sun Yang, Gregorio Paltrinieri and Grant Hackett. When the event does come around at the end of the program, Wellbrock will face off with a loaded field including defending world champion Paltrinieri, Romanchuk, Finke, fellow 14:34 swimmer Dan Wiffen and German teammate Lukas Martens. Perhaps now, everything will work out for Wellbrock to claim the gold in the pool he has been chasing since 2019. After a 10K gold, clearly his fitness is no problem. He proved last year that his glaring lack of finishing speed is no more. The confidence, surely, is as high as ever. With swimmers beginning to approach the 1500 world record of 14:31.04, untouched since 2012, it’s Wellbrock most equipped with the experience and skills to give the mark a real shake. So even with two gold medals already secured in open water, Wellbrock still has plenty of work remaining during his time in Japan. But this might have been just the first half of a signature performance for the German at the World Championships.
