Florian Wellbrock (born 19 August 1997) is a German competitive swimmer. He is the world record holder in the short course 1500 metre freestyle. He is an Olympic champion, multiple World Champion and European champion, in both long and short courses. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won gold in the 10 kilometre open water and bronze in the 1500 metre freestyle. In total, Wellbrock has won 28 medals at international competitions of which 20 are gold. This includes his gold medal at the Olympic games, six at the World Championships, six at the Swimming World Cup and six at the Open Water Swimming World Cup.
Career At the age of 17, Wellbrock competed in his first international competition as part of the German mixed 4×100 metre relay team at the 17th Luxembourg Euro Meet.
In 2016, Wellbrock attended the 18th Luxembourg Euro Meet, where he placed seventh in the 1500 metre freestyle with a time of 15:27.19.
2016 Rio Olympics In May 2016, Wellbrock returned to the German Swimming Championships (long course), where he set a new personal best of 14:55.49. This time broke the under-20 age group record, put him in the top ten 1500 metre freestyle swimmers in that year, and qualified him for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The time was just over 5 seconds off the German national record set by Jorg Hoffman in 1991, which was a world record at the time.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Wellbrock swam in the heats of the 1500 metres freestyle, where he finished with a time of 15:23.88 which was just under 30 seconds slower than his personal best set around 3 months earlier. This time did not qualify him for the final.
2016–2020 19 days after his Olympic debut, Wellbrock returned to competition at day two of the 2016 FINA World Cup in Berlin, where he again finished first in the 1500 metre freestyle with a time of 14:35.79.
At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, he became the first swimmer to win both the 1500m freestyle and the 10 km open-water race at an international competition. Wellbrock won the 10 kilometre open water swim in 1:47:55.90 with the silver and bronze medalists finishing within two seconds of his time."Photo finish decides 10k open water race at world titles" . The Seattle Times. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
2020 Summer Olympics
Wellbrock qualified to represent Germany at the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo, Japan and postponed to summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His first medal of the Olympic Games was in the 1500 metre freestyle, where he won the bronze medal.Eggert, Greg (5 August 2021). "Wellbrock ran away with it!" . FINA. Retrieved 21 December 2021. Wellbrock also won a gold medal in the 10 kilometre open water swim a few days later with a time of 1:48:33.7, which was over 25 seconds faster than the second-place finisher."Germany's Florian Wellbrock wins men's marathon swimming at Tokyo Olympics" . ESPN. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021. His gold medal was the first won in the event at an Olympic Games by a swimmer representing Germany. His Olympic medals in pool swimming and open water swimming marked the second time a swimmer won medals in both disciplines at one Olympic Games and he was closely followed by the third swimmer to do so, Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy who also won a medal in each discipline at the 2020 Summer Olympics only Gregorio Paltrinieri won his second medal, a bronze medal in the 10 kilometre open water swim, seconds after Welllbrock and thus Wellbrock became the second swimmer in history to achieve the feat and Gregorio Paltrinieri the third.Murakami, Sakura (4 August 2021). "Marathon Swimming- Germany's Wellbrock wins men's marathon swimming gold" . Reuters. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
2021–present At the 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships, held at the Palace of Water Sports in Kazan, Russia, Wellbrock won a gold medal in the 1500 metre freestyle on 4 November with a time of 14:09.88.LEN (4 November 2021). "2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships Kazan (RUS): Results 1500m Freestyle Men Final" . Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 21 December 2021. On 7 November, Wellbrock won the silver medal in the 800 metre freestyle in 7:27.99, finishing five-hundredths of a second behind gold medalist in the event Gregorio Paltrinieri.LEN (7 November 2021). "2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships Kazan (RUS): Results 800m Freestyle Men Final" . Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
At the Abu Dhabi Aquatics Festival, held in parallel with the 2021 World Short Course Championships, in December 2021, Wellbrock won a bronze medal as part of the open water 4×1500 metre mixed relay event.Byrnes, Liz (15 December 2021). "Gregorio Paltrinieri Steers Italy To Victory in Mixed Open Water Relay In Abu Dhabi" . Swimming World. Retrieved 15 December 2021. In his individual event, the 10 kilometre open water swim, Wellbrock won the gold medal in a time of 1:48:09.4, finishing over two seconds ahead of silver medalist Domenico Acerenza of Italy."FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series 2021 – Grand Finale: Men 10km" . FINA. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021. As part of the World Championships, Wellbrock swam a 14:25.79 in the prelims heats of the 1500 metre freestyle on 20 December, qualifying for the final the following day ranking third.FINA (20 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 1500m Freestyle Heats Results Summary" . Omega Timing. Retrieved 20 December 2021. In the final of the 1500 metre freestyle, Wellbrock set a new world record with a time of 14:06.88 and won the gold medal.FINA (21 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 1500m Freestyle Final Results" . Omega Timing. Retrieved 21 December 2021.Sutherland, James (21 December 2021). "Florian Wellbrock Smashes 1500 Free World Record In 14:06.88" . SwimSwam. Retrieved 21 December 2021.Rieder, David (21 December 2021). "Florian Wellbrock Takes Down 1500 Free World Record at Short Course Worlds" . Swimming World. Retrieved 21 December 2021. Wellbrock also co-hosted a swimming clinic at the venue of the World Championships, Etihad Arena, with Anthony Ervin of the United States."Athletes underline commitment to sustainability and legacy in Abu Dhabi" . FINA. 29 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
With Europeans swimmers permitted to compete in the open water events at the 2026 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Wellbrock won gold in the 10 km event.
Awards and honours FINA, Top 10 Moments: 2020 Summer Olympics (#9 for winning the first gold medal of his Olympic career in the 10 kilometre open water swim as a 23-year-old)"Tokyo Olympics: Top 10 moments" . FINA. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021. FINA, Athlete of the Year, open water swimming (male): 2021D'Addona, Dan (17 December 2021). "FINA Yearly Awards: Caeleb Dressel, Emma McKeon Lead Winners; Filipovic, Steffens, Wellbrock, Cunha Too" . Swimming World. Retrieved 17 December 2021. Swimming World, Open Water Swimmer of the Year (male): 2019,Serowik, Lauren (2 November 2019). "Swimming World Presents "The 2019 Open Water Swimmers of the Year: Florian Wellbrock and Ana Marcela Cunha"" . Swimming World. Retrieved 6 January 2022. 2021"Ana Marcela Cunha and Florian Wellbrock Earn Swimming World Open-Water Swimmer of the Year Honors" . Swimming World. 24 December 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022. SwimSwam, Swammy Award, Open Water Swimmer of the Year (male): 2019,Keith, Braden (18 December 2019). "2019 Swammy Awards: Male Open Water Swimmer Of The Year Florian Wellbrock" . SwimSwam. Retrieved 6 January 2022. 2021Keith, Braden (5 January 2022). "2021 Swammy Awards: Male Open Water Swimmer Of The Year Florian Wellbrock" . SwimSwam. Retrieved 5 January 2022. SwimSwam, Top 100 (Men's): 2021 (#18),Anderson, Jared (4 February 2021). "SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2021: Men's #20 – #11" . SwimSwam. Retrieved 28 January 2022. 2022 (#11)Sutherland, James (20 January 2022). "SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2022: Men's #20–11" . SwimSwam. Retrieved 28 January 2022. LEN, Best Open Water Swimmer (Male): 2021"Peaty, Sjostrom, Wellbrock & Van Rouwendaal Headline 2021 LEN Awards" . SwimSwam. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
Personal life Wellbrock married Sarah Köhler of Germany in January 2022 after getting engaged in December 2020.Race, Retta (11 January 2022). "German Power Couple Wellbrock & Köhler Get Married" . SwimSwam. Retrieved 11 January 2022.Koos, Torin (3 February 2022). "What your favorite swimmers and divers have been up to this offseason" . FINA. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
See also List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (men) List of World Swimming Championships (25 m) medalists (men)
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