Olympics - Swimming

Bucher out in the 100 m dolphin semifinal in tenth place

Simon Bucher

(Bild: GEPA)

Swimmer Simon Bucher has missed out on the Olympic final in the 100 m dolphin!

The Tyrolean came tenth overall in the Paris semifinals on Friday with a time of 51.35 seconds, missing out on advancement as second reserve by 0.27 seconds and his national record by 0.17 seconds. On Saturday (12.40 p.m.), the runner-up world champion will be involved in the heats of the 4 x 100 m medley with Bernhard Reitshammer, Valentin Bayer and Heiko Gigler.

"It's not what I came here for!"
Bucher was dejected, as the runner-up in the world championships, he had not communicated it so openly, but had expected to take part in the final quite quickly. He had bought his family tickets for the Saturday finals. "It's not what I came here for," said the 24-year-old after he had calmed down a little. Compared to his 37th place in Tokyo, he said he should actually be satisfied, as that was a world-class placing. "But maybe I put a bit too much pressure on myself since I swam the limit," admitted Bucher.

The European Championship fourth-placed swimmer over this distance had been in the second semi-final heat, in the first only the first three had swum very fast. "I therefore knew that fifth place could be enough in my heat." In the end, however, Bucher only left one competitor behind him in a direct duel. However, he was at least more satisfied with his performance than in the preliminary heat, in which he finished 13th in 51.55 seconds. "I managed it a bit better, I didn't approach it so hectically and aggressively." Now he wants to reach a final with the relay after all.

"Somehow we've come full circle!"
Lena Kreundl finished 24th in the preliminary heats of the 200 m medley. The Upper Austrian finished in 2:15.04 minutes, 3.08 seconds short of the semi-finals. She was not satisfied. "I don't know what happened on the last 50." Then the tears came. "I went into the race thinking it might be the last one. I don't know if and how it will go on," said the 26-year-old. "I cleared out my apartment in Switzerland two weeks ago. It's all very emotional right now." In 2012, she made her international debut at the European Short Course Championships in Chartres and thus also in France. "Somehow it's come full circle."

"Without the help of doctors, I could ..."
She is pretty sure that she will start working full-time as a police officer in September. However, she may still compete in the upcoming short course season. "But I'm in a very bad way physically and have had extreme knee problems for over a year. Without the help of doctors, I wouldn't be able to do a single breaststroke." Her season with short course bronze at the European Championships was therefore the greatest thing for her. "I had the best season I've ever swum. I'm extremely grateful, so many people traveled all the way to watch. I'm very proud of myself."