Fight against floods from above and below

Once again a strong performance by Franz Herbst.

Pemmering - He did it again.

At the 27th International German Championships of the Masters in open water Erdings Eiswasserkönig Franz Herbst was of course represented and won silver.

However, the championships in Gummersbach at the Aggertalsperre were a real rollercoaster for the Pemmeringer in the truest sense of the word.

In the anticipation of the competition, which is finally taking place again, there was also a little pain of parting. Because on the same day that he left for the competition in Gummersbach, Franz Herbst had to take his daughter Anna to the airport, because after three months at home she was flying back to Florida for her fourth year of study. After a hearty farewell, Franz Herbst had to travel eight hours, after which he inspected the competition course and was able to swim in a little.

In bright sunshine, he started on the first day over the 2.5 km in open water. The Pemmeringer swimmer finished fifth, 17 seconds behind bronze. Competition day two, however, turned out to be completely different. As soon as I woke up, the rain pattered on the hotel room window. As the temperatures were also dropping, Herbst feared that the competition jury could issue a neoprene approval. But in the end the water temperature was just over 20 degrees Celsius, so that neoprene was prohibited.

The race was then a real water fight, because there was heavy rain from above and quite a swell in the lake, which made the crawl very difficult. The first of four laps of the five-kilometer route went as planned, and Herbst was able to count his trains as usual. Then, however, he fought against muscle pain, the churned water and poor visibility. The previous day's race was still in his bones. However, all 200 participants had to cope with these conditions, so that the swimmer of the Erdinger Delphine continued to show fighting spirit. For a long time in first place in his age group, he was caught by a competitor from Lower Saxony shortly before the finish line.

Nevertheless, the joy about his German runner-up title over the 5 km was huge.

His joy was increased by the fact that his daughter arrived safely back in Florida and has meanwhile also successfully completed her bachelor's degree.

In her fourth year abroad, Anna Herbst is now preparing for the new season and the master’s degree in the coming year.

BY ALEKSANDRA SHARP