Florian Wellbrock Takes Down 1500 Free World Record at Short Course Worlds
Performance of the Week sponsored by Luma Lanes.
Germany’s Florian Wellbrock has become one of the best and most consistent distance swimmers in the world over the past four years, and he secured that status with a new world record in the 1500 freestyle on his way to his first short course world title. In the 1500 free final, Wellbrock raced against longtime rivals Mykhailo Romanchuk of Ukraine and Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy as well as young star Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia, the Olympic gold medalist in the 1500 free.
Wellbrock established a slight edge from the beginning, and he stayed close to the world-record pace before moving ahead of the superimposed red line for good over the final 300 meters. Wellbrock actually had the lead in the Olympic finals of both the 800 free and 1500 free with 50 meters to go, but he faded to fourth in the 800 free and bronze in the 1500 free. There was no fading for the 24-year-old German in this final. He accelerated into the finish on the way to a final time of 14:06.88. That smashed the previous world record of 14:08.06 that Paltrinieri set in 2015. Wellbrock’s previous lifetime best was actually the 14:25.79 that he swam in Monday’s prelims to qualify third for the final.
The silver medal went to Hafnaoui as he pulled about a half-second ahead of Romanchuk over the final 400 meters. Hafnaoui touched in 14:10.94, taking almost eight seconds off countryman Ous Mellouli’s African record of 14:18.79. He also became the fifth-fastest performer in history behind a bevy of big names: Wellbrock, Paltrinieri, Romanchuk and Australian great Grant Hackett.
Romanchuk took bronze in 14:11.47, while Paltrinieri could not stay close to the top-three swimmers after the first 300 meters. He ended up fourth in 14:21.00.
