WELLBROCK Florian

General
DEALING WITH DISAPPOINTMENT
He won gold in the 10km open water event at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, and was among the favourites to win the 800m in Gwangju but did not make the final. "It was a kick in the guts and the hardest part of the whole world championships. I tried to process the disappointment by writing things down. When I try to work something out, I don't do it straight away. I write a little, let two or three days pass, read it through and work on it. I deal with it by myself and then save it in my phone." He bounced back from the 800m disappointment to win gold in the 1500m event in Gwangju. "Dealing with the disappointment of the 800m event and then having to get myself motivated for the 1500m was quite a challenge. It was awesome that I could actually win my second gold. The negative experience has definitely made me stronger. I now know that even if I have a bad race, I will be able to pick myself up again and achieve a top performance. It doesn't knock me over. I also think it would be boring to just win medal after medal, so the setback was good in a way and important for me." (welt.de, 24 Dec 2019)

FRIEND AND RIVAL
He trains at club and national level with friend and rival Rob Muffels. At the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, he won gold in the 10km race while Muffels took bronze, with the result securing qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo for both swimmers. "The fact that I qualified for the Olympics with Rob was the most beautiful of the many wonderful moments this year [2019]." (Volksstimme.de, 21 Dec 2019)

FAMILY TRAGEDY
When he was a child his sister Franziska died when she hit her head after a family swim. "I was nine years old at that time, and clearly it was a shock to have lost my sister, but I did not really understand it at the time. I just continued on with life." In memory of his sister he has a tattoo with a line from the song 'Feel Free' by Sido below his left shoulder that reads 'Enjoy your life, you'll be dead longer than you're alive'. (volksstimme.de, 01 Sep 2018)

At the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, he became the first swimmer from any nation to win a gold medal at a single edition of the world championships in both the pool and open water swimming. He won gold in the 10km open water swim and later won the 1500m event in the pool in Gwangju. (SportsDeskOnline, 12 Feb 2020)