Swimming

Wellbrock, Hafnaoui Miss 800 Free Final In Doha After “Surprisingly Slow” Prelim

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By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2024 WORLD AQUATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

The carnage in the men’s distance events continued on Tuesday morning in Doha as two of the big favorites fell short of the final in the 800 freestyle.

Defending world champion Ahmed Hafnaoui and Germany’s Florian Wellbrock, the 2022 silver medalist in the event, both missed out on the top eight. Hafnaoui clocked 7:51.72 to finish a distant 18th, while Wellbrock was right in the hunt but fell short by just over half a second in 7:48.17 to take 10th.

The result for Hafnaoui isn’t a shock after he fell well short of the 400 free final on Sunday, but the swim for Wellbrock is noteworthy for a few different reasons.

For one, there was already a sign that he too wasn’t at his best at the beginning of the championships in the open water events, as the reigning Olympic champion in the 10km and the defending world champion in both the 5km and 10km events finished 9th and 29th, respectively, early in the competition in Doha.

In Fukuoka, after Wellbrock was dynamite in open water, he struggled to perform in the pool off the back of that. His swim this morning while well shy of his best (7:39.48) was only a few seconds slower than what he went in Fukuoka (7:45.87), where he also missed the final, while clearly not being on the same type of form given the open water results.

The 26-year-old said he was surprised with the result, feeling as though the heat was moving much quicker.

“The time is surprisingly slow, I thought we were going a little faster because it was all relatively close together,” he said, having finished 5th in Heat 4 where the top four all advanced. “There might have been a little bit left in it. It felt faster than it actually was.”

Wellbrock remained optimistic moving forward and said the transition from open water to pool was smoother here than it was last year.

“The change from open water to the pool felt a little nicer than in Fukuoka, and that was important.”

The 2022 World Championship silver medalist in the 800 free, the 1500 has always been Wellbrock’s best event in the pool, and he’ll be in the hunt in that race at the end of the competition.

Regarding Olympic qualification, Wellbrock has locked up a spot in Paris in the open water 10km, but has not done so in the pool as of yet. His countryman Sven Schwarz advanced 3rd into the final after clocking 7:46.95 en route to winning Heat 5, and Schwarz and Oliver Klemet is another up-and-coming German distance swimmer poised to challenge for an Olympic berth in the men’s distance events.

In Paris, should Wellbrock qualify for the pool events, he won’t have to deal with the same open water-to-pool transition, as the 10km will take place at the end of the Games rather than the beginning.

SwimSwam: Wellbrock, Hafnaoui Miss 800 Free Final In Doha After “Surprisingly Slow” Prelim

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