Jan Hercog
Belgrade 2024
The European Championships in Belgrade (SRB) were supposed to be the test for the Olympic Games, which take place in just under two months.
Before that, I had to come out of a pretty low point. I was able to prepare for this competition in Hungary as I did before the World Championships.
dry spell
The weeks before the European Championships were tough for me. Training just didn't go any further, on the contrary: I had the feeling that I was training in completely the wrong direction. That was extremely physically and mentally exhausting.
Two weeks before the European Championships, I was allowed to go to Veszprèm (HUN) to train - as I did before the World Championships - and train there together with the Hungarian Open Water-team.
That was perfect for me! I was able to focus and I decided not to taper for the European Championships. That's why I only swam the Olympic distance of 10km so that I could start training again the next day.
10km in the Save lake
29 athletes started in pouring rain. The race was immediately surprisingly fast, as my training colleague David Bethlehem (HUN) increased the pace enormously. I was a bit at the back of the field for the first two laps, but I was able to catch up really well in the third lap and I was swimming in the leading group until halfway through the sixth lap.
Unfortunately, due to the race to catch up, I lacked the strength right at the end, but I'm happy with the 12th place I achieved.
Things are going in the right direction and I'm heading towards my participation at the Olympic Games in Paris (FRA).
I'm particularly happy for David, who won the bronze medal in the 10km competition and became European champion in the 5km the next day!
