Despite the more favorable constellation, the 25-year-old had considered traveling only for the 400cc. “Because it’s my main competition and such a competition is of course exhausting,” Auböck gave the APA an insight into his original considerations. On the one hand, the free Tuesday made him rethink: “This one day makes up for every effort.” In addition, he was guided by the quality of his fifth place in the 200m World Championship, although he had not specifically prepared for the competition. He was only 0.13 seconds short of bronze.
In general, Auböck wants to make his shorter route his second mainstay. “I want to fully establish myself at 200 meters. That means that I’ll deliver the same result as in Budapest again. I want to show that I belong up there.” But the only 17-year-old David Popovici, world champion in the 100 and 200 m freestyle, seems unreachable. Since his Budapest triumph, the Romanian has won four to seven of his Junior World Championship gold medals, and he cleaned up last year’s triple in Rome. And this time Popovici also competes in the 400 m freestyle. Auböck: “You can expect a lot there.”
“Tight, dense field”
So the Loughborough student has a new rival on his parade route. Regardless of that, Auböck thinks the German World Cup runner-up Lukas Märtens on the 400er – albeit recently thrown back by the corona virus – is the strongest. “But behind it is a very tight, tight field. But I feel very good and I think it will be a good competition for me.” To surpass the European Championship silver performance in Budapest 2021 would be the highest. “But if I can achieve the same result or just be on the podium, it’s still something very, very special.”
This time, Auböck does not support his main trainer Andrew Manley in striving for this goal, because he had to give preference to family events this time due to the dense competition calendar. “He has to take vacation, otherwise he will have problems with his wife,” Auböck explained. Of course, Michael Peyrebrune accompanies him from another member of his coaching team. “He previously had the coaching position, is already retired, but comes every day and helps out. He’s practically my coach’s mentor,” said the short course world champion over 400 m freestyle.
There is less pressure on Aubock
At his gold coup in December in Abu Dhabi, Auböck was Austria’s only medal candidate, that has changed since the Budapest World Championships. The three-time Olympic finalist took note of this with satisfaction, among other things, it also reduces the pressure on him. The upswing is also reflected in the fact that some are now quite certain of making it up from the heats. Auböck therefore also radiates optimism for Rome: “I think it is realistic that some of us will also achieve top positions at the European Championship. It looks like we’re getting better at swimming.”
