Records Broken at Swimming Championships in Germany

The 23rd International German Swimming Championships (IDM) finished four days of tough competition in Berlin, Germany, with athletes breaking multiple records along the way.

From 28-31 May, a total of 475 athletes from 119 different organizations, representing 31 countries, came to Berlin for the competition. Together, athletes broke 30 World records, 20 European records and one Panamerican record.

German athletes dominated the pool, bringing 184 athletes to the event from 73 organizations. The host country alone broke eight World records and one European record. Paralympian Kirsten Bruhn and Martin Schulz were among the high-profile winners.

All events incorporated several classes together, wherein athletes of different disabilities were competing against each other. For this reason, swimmers were ranked according to the German 1,000-point system which calculates a number based on the finishing time, and the particular class of the athlete. The system assures fairness and balance in the final results.

On the final day, 31 May, Itzhak Mamistvalov (class S1) from Israel took first place in the Men’s 50m Freestyle, followed by Spain’s Richard Oribe Lumbreras (S4) and Brazil’s Andre Brasil Esteves (S10) respectively. In the Women’s 50m Freestyle, Chantal Cavin (S11) from Switzerland took first, followed by Germany’s Kirsten Bruhn (S7) and Australia’s Prudence Elise Ormerod Watt (S13).

In the Women’s 400m Freestyle, Germany’s Annke Conradi (S3) took first, followed by Katarzyna Pawlik (S10) from Poland and Maike Naomi Schnittger (S12) from Germany. In the Men’s 400m Freestyle, Croatia’s Kristijan Vincetic (S9) took first, followed by Germany’s Christoph Burkard (S8) and Spain’s Jose Antonio Mari Alcaraz-Garcia (S9).

The organizer of the 23rd International German Swimming Championships was the Paralympischer Sport Club Berlin (PSC), which is a club dedicated to encouraging athletes with or without a disability to participate in competitive sport. Patron of the event was Germany’s Federal Minister of the Interior Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble.