Theresa Michalak wins Women’s 200m IM qualifying rounds - German World Championships Selection Trial
German swimmer, Theresa Michalak, dominated the Women’s 200m Individual Medley (IM) qualifying rounds on day one of the 2011 German World Championships Selection Trial.
The competition provides a platform to German swimmers, who are aiming to confirm their spots in the national team to the 2011 Shanghai World Championships, this July.
SV Halle’s Michalak dominated the preliminary rounds of the 200m IM, touching the wall first in a time of 2:15.92 minutes. Her time was 9.77 seconds slower than Ariana Kukors’s world record of 2:06.15 minutes.
Similarly, her fastest qualifying time was 8.46 seconds away from the European record of 2:07.46 minutes, held by Katinka Hosszu. In addition, the fastest qualifying swimmer failed to break the German record of 2:11.73 minutes, made by Ute Geweniger in 1981.
The 19-year-old was 0.42 seconds ahead of her closest swimmer, Annika Bruhn, who occupied the second fastest qualification spot, by posting a time of 2:16.33 minutes. Bruhn was only 0.24 seconds away from her following swimmer, Alexandra Wenk, who touched the wall in 2:16.57 minutes for the third fastest qualification.
With the help of her fast butterfly kicks, Michalak completed her first lap in a time of 28.49 seconds. She was followed by Alexandra, who completed the 50m butterfly in 28.93 seconds and finished ahead of Bruhn, who ended her lap in 29.35 seconds.
In the next lap, Bruhn took a crucial lead with the help of her quick back-stroke kicks and completed her lap in 1:02.92 minutes. She was 0.23 seconds ahead of Alexandra and 0.53 seconds in front of Michalak, who appeared as the second and third fastest swimmers in the second lap.
Moments later, Theresa gained a lead of almost two seconds from both of these swimmers, clocking in 1:42.87 minutes. Annika and Alexandra displayed their aggressive swims in the last lap, but failed to overcome Michalak’s lead and finished behind her to qualify as the second and third fastest swimmers, respectively.
The final of the same event will take place in the next session. Michalak claims to have an eye on the German record, saying that she will try her best to improve the national record.
Tags: