2023-12-05 10:23:22
Felix Auböck is on course for a medal in his first outing at the European Short Course Championships in Otopeni, Romania. The 26-year-old from Lower Austria swam into the final of the 400 m freestyle with the second best lead time on Tuesday (5:09 p.m. CET/live ORF Sport +). Auböck had to bow to the Lithuanian Danas Papsys by just 0.24 seconds in 3:39.43. European Championship debutant Lukas Edl made it into the semifinals (5:45 p.m.) in the 100 m dolphin (51.70).
The other OSV starters were eliminated in the preliminary round. The men’s 4×50 m crawl relay narrowly missed the final in tenth place. Heiko Gigler, Leon Opatril, Edl and Alexander Trampitsch swam the distance in 1:27.16.
For Austria’s biggest medal hope Auböck, only the medal counts. “The race wasn’t ideal, I made a lot of mistakes. But I still met the target. There are a few things that might be done better in the followingnoon. The first race at a European Championship is always difficult. But now it should be easier.” said Auböck. He’ll try to swim a little faster in the followingnoon and see where that goes. “But if I swim in the final, then of course I want to be at the front.”
The final run promises great excitement because of the times shown, as the top six were initially only within a second. Nevertheless, Auböck has a good chance of winning his fourth medal at a major event in his flagship discipline.
With Edl, a second OSV athlete was in action following finishing 15th in the preliminary heat in the followingnoon. “I now know how the pool works. There’s still something there in the second race. But the European Championship semi-finals are super-super.” Lena Kreundl finished 26th in the 50 m freestyle in 25.01, but her focus in Otopeni is on the medleys. “I’m not a sprinter. But it was very solid for me, I felt completely okay. It was a good warm-up race and a good start to the week.”
Also eliminated were Luka Karl (400 m freestyle/37th), Marijana Jelic (50m freestyle/34th) and Andreas Rizek (100m delfin/18th).
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