DrThe optimum color for the grand entrance was not found. Shortly before an online press event on Friday, Anna Elendt applied a different glossy coat to each nail for testing purposes. The shade of blue should perfectly match the pink swimsuit. Just as all should be well when the 20-year-old jumps into the basin of the Hungarian capital Budapest for the world championships, which begin in a week.
Stay relaxed, have fun and get as close as possible to your best times – that’s what the SG Frankfurt athlete sets out to do. The mammologist herself raised expectations from the outside, which should not prevent her.
Over all three distances in her preferred position, 50, 100 and 200 metres, Heesan improved the German record this spring. 1:05.58 minutes over middle distance, which means a place in the current top eight in the world, and he would have finished fourth at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, where Allendt failed in the semi-finals.
Arrived at the scene
The stars of the scene, who recently passed her without a greeting, are now chatting with the climber. Anna’s misery has become a topic. The competition knows to be underestimated. Her former coach at DSW Darmstadt, Alexander Kreisel, had already predicted that the talent could become a “big one” in his preferred style.
In 2019, at the last World Cup finals in Gwangju, South Korea, Allendt stunned for seventh place. Studies at the University of Texas, which the scholarship recipient began two years ago after graduating from high school, are working to propel her forward. Led by coach Carol Capitani, who twice led Rebecca Sonny to an Olympic gold medal in the 200m breaststroke, Anna Elendt swims with a new rhythm in Austin, where her arms and legs are no longer in sync.
At the beginning or during the dive, she sees in herself more potential, working intensively with a technical specialist. “The first year I had to get used to everything,” says the novice at the time. Some things are now routine, while Elendt can focus on others.
An injury initially prevented her from performing all strength training exercises. “I had to skip some exercises.” This is a thing of the past. Since the beginning of the year, the full program has been announced, “It’s reflected in the water,” the swimmer explains. She is now moving in it more aggressively. The training group of 25 athletes, in which everyone aims to be the best, “makes challenging sessions easier because everyone progresses.”
Outside the pool, Elendt became a self-employed worker, moving out of the dormitory with her roommate to her own apartment, which is so close to campus that the two can continue to enjoy the benefits of short distances. Behind them are the university’s first compulsory courses, American Politics and History. Now a sports management student can focus on her chosen subjects.
World Cup instead of defending the title
Before leaving for the World Cup on Wednesday, Allendt, from Dreieich-Götzenhain, returned home for a few days. After the European Mare Nostrum, during which she improved her own record of over 50 meters in breaststroke to 30.10 seconds in Barcelona, a trip to the United States was no longer worthwhile. At the Hessen State Sports Federation swimming pool, Elendt pulls the last lanes, Capitani sends out training plans. “The shape is very good,” said the two-time German champion.
She will not be able to defend her national titles at 50 and 100 metres. The decisions are an integral part of the “2022 finals”, the date of which is parallel to the World Cup.
For the 200m alone, which Ellind didn’t do in 2021 after two gold records, she could still turn back time and start a pole position in Berlin. This is exactly what the aspiring swimmer intends to do. Elendt is particularly pleased that she is now the fastest in German history over the longest breaststroke at 2:24.63 minutes. “For a long time I was only seen as a runner,” and now she has also proven her endurance.
Dry the paint. Anna Elendt sticks her fingers into the camera. One of them shines silver like a fish. Or like a precious metal.
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