German swimmer Isabel Gose claimed gold in the 400m freestyle at the short course European Championships in Lublin, breaking German and European records. Her compatriot Lukas Märtens took silver on the same distance. Both from Magdeburg delivered strong performances on the first competition day.
On the first day of the short course European Championships in Lublin, Poland, 23-year-old Magdeburg swimmer Isabel Gose won the 400m freestyle title. Clocking 3:54.33 minutes, she not only shattered her own German record of 3:56.84 from last year but also the European best by Spain's Mireia Belmonte of 3:54.52 from 2013.
The Olympic third-place finisher on the long course had already secured short course world gold and silver last year, along with European silver in 2019 and two bronzes in 2021. "I didn't expect this result today," Gose said. "This morning it went really fast. I was really shocked. But I'm so proud to have set a European record in short course swimming. It's simply the result of hard work." Fellow German finalist Maya Werner finished fourth.
Lukas Märtens, also 23 and an Olympic and world champion on the long course, led for much of the race but settled for silver behind Britain's Jack McMillan (3:36.33 minutes), touching in at 3:36.51. Clubmate Johannes Liebmann took fourth in 3:37.39. Märtens, who hadn't competed in a 25m pool for four years, improved on his previous best of 3:43.64 from the 2021 short course worlds by about five seconds already in the heats. He had emphasized starting without high expectations and will compete in the 200m on Wednesday.
These achievements highlight the strength of German swimmers in short course events.