Silke Lippok dominates in 200m freestyle heats - German World Championships Selection Trial
Silke Lippok of SSG Pforzheim stunned the arena by defeating the 100m freestyle 2008 Beijing Olympic champion, Britta Steffen, in the 200m freestyle qualifying rounds on the first day of the 2011 German World Championships Selection Trial.
The competition is a trial for national swimmers seeking their qualification in the German swimming team to compete at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, during July.
Steffen, who qualified as the fastest swimmer in the Women’s 100m freestyle, failed to overwhelm Lippok’s 1:57.42 minutes effort. The 17-year-old Silke was 1.83 seconds faster from the Olympic champion, who qualified as the second fastest swimmer in a time
of 1:59.25 minutes. Similarly, SG Neukolln e.V. Berlin’s Steffen was 1.13 seconds away from her following swimmer, Annika Bruhn, who earned the third fastest qualification, with a timing of 2:00.38 minutes.
The German teenager was 4.44 seconds slower than the European and World Record of 1:52.98 minutes, made by Federica Pellegrini of Italy at the 2009 Rome World Championships. Silke was 1.74 seconds above the German record of 1:55.68 minutes, set by Annika
Lurz of SV Wurzburg at the 2007 Melbourne World Long Course Championships.
Silke was 0.98 seconds away from Britta in the first lap, where she completed her swim in a wonderful time of 26.87 seconds against Steffen’s 27.85 seconds effort. Steffen appeared as the third fastest swimmer in the second lap, as she finished behind Bruhn,
who clocked a time of 57.56 to overcome Britta’s effort of 58.26 seconds.
Lippok sustained her fastest qualification spot in the third lap, posting a time of 1:26.73 minutes. She was followed by Annika and Steffen, who completed their laps in the second and third fastest time of 1:28.76 and 1:29.40 minutes, respectively.
In the final lap, Silke sustained her fastest spot and finished first, while the Olympic gold medallist sprinted her way to the finishing wall, overpowering Bruhn’s effort and secured the second fastest spot in a time of 1:59.25 minutes.
The final of the freestyle event will take place in the subsequent session, where the winners will be selected for the German team to Shanghai.
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