Beck's swimming hole in the Seine
Swimmer Leonie Beck missed the medal spots in the Olympic Seine race by a significant margin. The gap to bronze was around two and a half minutes. The European champion had started as a co-favorite and was left somewhat bewildered afterwards.
Co-favorite Leonie Beck missed the medals by a significant margin in the Olympic open water swimming race in the Seine. The double European champion, who had also won the World Championship double last year, finished ninth in 2:06:13.4 hours after ten kilometers in the Parisian river. Gold went to Dutch Rio Olympic champion and world champion Sharon van Rouwendaal, ahead of Australian Moesha Johnson and Italian Ginevra Taddeucci.
"I tried to swim as close to the wall as possible to have as little current as possible, but it was really two hours of strength training, stroke for stroke," Beck said in ARD: "It helps if you're muscular, but look at me, I'm a string bean. I kissed the wall, but I don't know what I could have done differently."
Many discussions about the race
Beck, who lives and trains in Italy, was two and a half minutes behind bronze. The Wurzburg native, who finished fifth three years ago in Tokyo, was already 50 seconds behind after the first of six rounds, but then caught up. However, Beck fell back significantly in the fourth round. Olympic debutant Leonie Martens swam far behind and finished in 22nd place with over twelve minutes behind.
The water temperature was 23 degrees Celsius, and the current in the middle of the river was 0.8 meters per second. Downstream, the swimmers needed only six minutes for the 800 meters, but more than 13 minutes for the same distance against the current along the riverbank.
There had been many discussions about the race beforehand due to the poor water quality. Training was cancelled on Tuesday for this reason, but the course was approved the next day, with bacterial load values "in the green range," according to DSV performance director Christian Hansmann. Martens, along with Tokyo Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock and Oliver Klemet, jumped into the Seine, while Beck trained in the pool of the Georges Vellerey swimming hall. The green light was given three hours before the start based on the latest values.
Despite being a co-favorite for the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, swimmer Leonie Beck missed out on a medal in the open water swimming race, finishing ninth and over two and a half minutes behind bronze. Heads will turn towards the Olympic Games 2024 as Leonie aims to make amends and secure a medal.
