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German swimmers secure first gold at Worlds

July 30, 2015

Germany have their first gold medal at the world aquatic championships in Russia. Even with a new face in the team in place of Germany's record holder, the trio secured the top prize.

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Russland Schwimm-WM in Kasan Gold für das deutsche Freiwasserteam
Image: Getty Images/M. Hangst

Germany successfully defended their team open water title over five kilometers on Thursday at the world aquatic championships in Kazan.

The German trio of Rob Muffels, Christian Reichert and Isabelle Härle clocked a winning time of 55 minutes, 14.4 seconds while Brazil and European champions Netherlands both shared silver as their three swimmers finished in an identical time of 16.8 seconds back.

"I was worried after the very fast lap whether I could sustain the pace," admitted Härle afterwards. Germany's open water swimming coach, Stefan Lurz, added: "We had hoped for a medal but that it's gold is amazing. They rocked it!"

German youngster Muffels, 20, added gold to the silver he won in the men's 5km race on Saturday, where Finnia Wunram won bronze. His compatriots Reichert and Härle were part of the German team which won gold two years ago in Barcelona. Muffels is the new member of the trio, replacing retired seven-time world gold-medalist Thomas Lurz.

Netherlands swimmer Ferry Weertman, whose Twitter account is the imaginatively named @veryferryfast, claimed his second silver of these world championships having finished second in Monday's 10km men's race.

The open water team event is a time trial with each country nominating two male swimmers and one female swimmer.

jh/asz (AFP, dpa)