German swimmers to compete in Israel
Brushing off security concerns, swimmers who previously said they would avoid championship in Israel backtrack.
The German swimmers union has nominated 27 German swimmers to compete in the European Short-Course Swimming Championships, according to German media. That number comes as a surprise because many swimmers had before stated they would not go to Netanya due to security issues.
Thirteen of 25 candidates for the Olympics had said they would not travel to Netanya because of a heightened concern about terrorist attacks. “To be honest, I think the risk is simply too big”, Alexandra Wenk was quoted by German media. The 20-year old won bronze in the 4x100 meter mixed medley at the World Championship 2015 in Kazan, Russia. However, Wenk is now on the list of athletes going to Netanya.
Biedermann and Koch to attend
So are Paul Biedermann and Marco Koch, two of the big shots in German swimming. Neither has ever questioned their participation in Netanya because of security issues.
Koch was quoted by the German sports news agency as saying that security in Israel will be good and the risk no higher than in any other place. “I don’t think it’s okay to let some thickheads scare you.”
Biedermann also stated he was not concerned about security issues. The 29-year broke the 200m freestyle and 400m freestyle world records in 2009. He failed to win a medal at the 2012 London Olympics, but came in third at the 200m freestyle at the 2015 World Championship.
His 25-year old colleague Marco Koch is best known for winning the gold medal in men’s 200m-breaststroke at the same event.
National coach excited about fresh team
The German Swimmers’ Union said the swimmers were free to decide on their own whether they want to participate in Netanya or not, and that this was also true for National Coach Henning Lambertz. He had been undecided on the issue himself and said previously that he was “not too hot” about going to Netanya.
Now Lambertz was quoted by the German news agency Sportinformationsdienst as saying he is excited to send a fresh team to Netanya, a third of whom will make their debut in the big international tournament.
The European Short-Course Swimming Championships will take place in Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, on December 6-9.
