Austria's open water swimmer: Hercog goes, Karl rises!

Austria's open water swimmer: Hercog goes, Karl rises!

On June 17, 2025, the next Sport Austria Finals are imminent, within the framework of which the Austrian championships in open water swimming will also be held. These take place for the 14th time at the Hechtsee and for the first time as part of the "Week of decisions". The native Styrian Jan Hercog, who ended his career in March 2023, will visit the event as a fence. Hercog was active as a world ranking seventeenth last year and qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, which made him the first Austrian to achieve this goal.

He emphasizes that the qualification for the Olympics is the biggest goal of an athlete and sees in open water swimming a growing potential for future Olympic participants: inside from Austria. After his resignation, Hercog plans to concentrate fully on his training as a physiotherapist at Heidelberg University.

young talents in open water swimming

A potential successor to Hercog is 22-year-old Luca Karl. This recently broke the 15-minute mark over 1,500 m freestyle and is defending champion at Sport Austria Finals. Karl Plans to defend his title and see the state championships as an important preparation for the World Cup in Setubal, Portugal. He started swimming free water five years ago and is now striving to participate in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

In the coming Olympic season, which will take place in Paris from July 27 to August 9, 2024, two marathon swimming competitions in the open water are part of the program. These competitions are held between Pont Alexandre III and Pont de L’Alma in the Seine. In addition to Hercog and Karl, the entire open-air swimming community in Austria is also in the starting blocks for the big events.

events and organization

The event of Sport Austria Finals is organized by Sonja Rieger, which highlights the combination of professionalism and family atmosphere. OSV general secretary Julia Powischer is confident that the event can be raised to the next level. The integration into Sport Austria Finals is intended to strengthen the meaning and visibility of open water swimming in Austria.

The Olympic competitions in Paris will have far-reaching consequences for open water swimming, since a total of 35 swimming competitions in the pool and the two marathon swimming competitions will take place at the Summer Olympics. The prelets of the swimming competitions are distributed over nine days to offer the athletes sufficient recovery time.

The international competition is represented by a number of remarkable athletes, such as Léon Marchand from France, who won four gold, including in the 200 m butterfly and in the layer of the layers. World records were also set up in these games and testify to the high performance density and the challenges for all athletes. The athletes are selected by the qualification places at the World Championships 2023 and 2024, which increases the pressure to qualify in good time.

Austria will be represented by a strong team. After Hercog has taken the first step, it is up to the next generations to follow its example and to further exploit the potential of open water swimming in the country.