THE 13th FINA World Championships that were held in Rome, Italy, from July 17 to August 2 will be recorded in the history books as championships beyond compare.
With a record number of 2 500 participating swimmers from 197 countries and 43 world records broken, the event surpassed all past standards.For the Namibian swimming team it was also a championship beyond compare. Whereas during the past 20 years a maximum of three swimmers qualified for participation, Namibia this year had six qualified participants. This was an extraordinary achievement. Swimmers Christine Briedenhann, Jonay Briedenhann, Daniela Lindemeier, Byron Briedenhann, Alex Ray and Max Siedentopf participated in 26 events, swam 25 personal best times and broke 25 Namibian records.The most outstanding performance was achieved by 19-year-old Jonay Briedenhann when she attained 767 FINA points for her time of 33.50s for the 50m breaststroke, breaking the record previously held by Danielle van Zijl.With her record time of 2:23.54 for the 200m Individual Medley, Jonay also shattered one of the oldest Namibian records when she shaved 1.43s off Dorothea Neumeister’s time. This performance equalled 742 FINA points. Briedenhann also improved her own 50m butterfly record to set a new open record of 29.86 and improved her personal best times in the 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle.One of the youngest participants at the world championships, 13-year-old Christine Briedenhann, broke Monica Dahl’s 100m freestyle record for girls 13/14 by 1.40s, with a new record time of 1:00.78 which equals 680 FINA points. She improved her individual medley time by 3.69s, breaking Marike Meyer’s 13/14 record to set the record at 2:31.58. Her personal best time of 28.71 for the 50m freestyle firmly established her position as a strong sprinter.The 16-year-old Daniela Lindemeier broke three breaststroke records for girls 17/18 as well as the open records. Another one of Dorothea Neumeister’s records crumbled when Lindemeier swam a new national record time of 1:13.82, slicing 1,69 seconds off the old record. In the 200m breaststroke she set the new national record at 2:39.71 breaking Danielle van Zijl’s previous record. Daniela Lindemeier’s times for the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events equalled 726, 727 and 714 FINA points respectively.NAMIBIAN MEN EXCELThe men performed equally brilliant with the 17-year-old Byron Briedenhann participating in seven events, establishing seven personal best times and breaking a total of nine age-group and open records. For the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke events he broke his own 17/18 age-group as well as open records, improving the national records from 29.09 to 28.83, 1:02.60 to 1:00.58 and 2:17.69 to 2:14.47 respectively. In the 200m Individual Medley Briedenhann improved his own age group record by 5.83s and in addition broke the national open record previously held by Werner Wagner to set an all time low of 2:10.95 which equals 718 FINA points. Briedenhann’s best performance was however in the 50m breaststroke when he and Max Siedentopf battled it out in the same heat. Both swimmers broke Siedentopf’s national record, but Byron Briedenhann clocked the faster time of 30.55s. He also set new personal best times for the 50m and 100m butterfly.The 18-year-old Max Siedentopf participated in three breaststroke events and set new national 17/18-year-old records in all three. He showed tremendous strength of nerves when his high-tech swimsuit burst at the start of his 100m breaststroke race, but despite the handicap, broke his previous best time by 2.69s to break Derrick Langford’s national record by 1,74s with a new time of 1:07.39. Siedentopf also shattered Derrick Langford’s 200m breaststroke record, improving his own personal best by an extraordinary 6.97s. His record time of 2:24.70 earned him 705 FINA points.The oldest and most experienced swimmer on the team, 22-year-old Alex Ray, proved that he is still a force to be reckoned with. In the 50m freestyle he broke Heinrich Mohrmann’s open record and set the national record at 24.82s. Ray also sliced close to a second off Heiko Horn’s 100m freestyle open record and clocked in a time of 53.61. His personal best times swum in the 50m and 100m butterfly events were a mere 20 hundredths of a second off Günther Streit’s national records and equalled 709 and 719 FINA points.
