While the world’s news outlets focus on the water quality of the Seine River in the lead-up to the triathlon and 10 km marathon swim at 2024 Paris Olympic Games (see here), we are interested in how fast the Olympic qualifiers are currently swimming.

One example is the increased speed and endurance of German qualifier Oliver Klemet.

At this week’s Gothaer and Friends Meet in Madgeburg, Germany, the young 10 km bronze medalist from the 2023 World Championships swam a lifetime best of 3:42.81 in the 400m freestyle, dropping his previously long course best time in 3:45.34. Klemet – an open water specialist – swam to the fifth fastest time in the world this year.

In yesterday’s 800m freestyle, he swam another lifetime best in 7:46.03, beating his previous best of 7:48.96. Today in the 200m freestyle, he won his second event in 1:48.40.

His three 50m long-course swims in the 200m, 400m, and 800m are indicative of his increased speed and stamina.

Klemet is getting faster and faster – but he has to. His main competitors, silver medalist Kristóf Rasovszky of Hungary, bronze medalist and hometown favorite Marc-Antoine Olivier of France, defending gold medalist and teammate Florian Wellbrock of Germany, and three-time pool and marathon swim medalist Gregorio Paltrinieri are all working hard in the final three month buildup to the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim.

The competition will be fierce in the Seine.

For reference purposes, the results from the last two major competitions are below:

2023 World Championships 10 km Marathon Swim Results – Top 25 in July 2023 in Fukuoka, Japan

1. Florian Wellbrock, Germany 1:50:40.30
2. Kristóf Rasovszky, Hungary 1:50:59.00
3. Oliver Klemet, Germany 1:51:00.80
4. Domenico Acerenza, Italy 1:51:16.70
5. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy 1:51:40.70
6. Athanasios Kynigakis, Greece 1:51:42.10
7. Nicholas Sloman, Australia 1:51:42.20
8. Matan Roditi, Israel 1:51:43.80
9. Logan Fontaine, France 1:52:41.70
10. Hector Thomas Cheal Pardoe, Great Britain 1:53:04.20
11. Paulo Strehlke Delgado, Mexico 1:53:04.40
12. Sacha Velly, France 1:53:14.70
13. Martin Straka, Czech Republic 1:53:16.20
14. David Farinango, Ecuador 1:53:17.10
15. Esteban Enderica Salgado, Ecuador 1:53:18.70
16. David Betlehem, Hungary 1:53:30.90
17. Jan Hercog, Austria 1:54:02.20
18. Logan Vanhuys, Belgium 1:54:03.10
19. Guillem Pujol, Spain 1:54:03.10
20. Tiago Campos, Portugal 1:54:05.50
21. Franco Ivo Cassini, Argentina 1:54:07.40
22. Kaiki Furuhata, Japan 1:54:07.70
23. Diogo Cardoso, Portugal 1:54:08.70
24. Joaquin Moreno, Argentina 1:54:09.70
25. Asterios Daldogiannis, Greece 1:54:10.30

2024 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Qualification Race Results – Top 25 in February 2024 in Qatar

1. Kristóf Rasovszky, Hungary 1:48:21.20
2. Marc-Antoine Olivier, France 1:48:23.60
3. Hector Pardoe, Great Britain 1:48:29.20
4. Logan Fontaine, France 1:48:29.5
5. Nicholas Sloman, Australia 1:48:29.60
6. David Betlehem, Hungary 1:48:29.90
7. Domenico Acerenza, Italy 1:48:30.40
8. Dario Verani, Italy 1:48:30.80
9. Kyle Lee, Australia 1:48:31.20
10. Matan Roditi, Israel 1:48:31.70
11. Oliver Klemet, Germany 1:48:32.30
12. David Farinango, Ecuador 1:48:34.40
13. Athanasios Kynigakis, Greece 1:48:34.60
14. Ivan Puskovitch, USA 1:48:54.40
15. Tobias Patrick Robinson, Great Britain 1:48:54.70
16. Jan Hercog, Austria 1:48:58.70
17. Martin Straka, Czech Republic 1:48:58.80
18. Paulo Strehlke Delgado, Mexico 1:49:05.90
19. Michael Brinegar, USA 1:49:18.80
20. Piotr Wozniak, Poland 1:49:45.50
21. Matej Kozubek, Czech Republic 1:49:47.30
22. Esteban Enderica Salgado, Ecuador 1:49:53.50
23. Tiago Campos, Portugal 1:49:54.50
24. Guillem Pujol, Spain 1:49:55.50
25. Taishin Minamide, Japan 1:49:57.20

Photo of Oliver Klemet, courtesy of World Aquatics.

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“