WIERLING Damian

General
SURPRISE RIO 2016 QUALIFICATION
He says his qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro was unexpected, which enabled him to enjoy competing at the Games without pressure. "Qualifying for Rio was a complete surprise. In the lead-up to the German championships, I was not even close to qualifying as I had missed six months through injury. But I managed to get into the final of the 100m freestyle. In the final metres I managed to overtake two of the top German freestylers, Paul Biedermann and Steffen Deibler. That was a fantastic feeling. I had not even remotely thought about making the Olympics and suddenly I had qualified. Not having expected it, this allowed me to approach the Games without feeling too much pressure. I was able to just enjoy it. It was great to take part in the biggest sporting event at such a young age. They were very successful Games for me, as I reached the semifinals in the 100m freestyle and the final in the 4x100m medley relay." (nrw-sportlerdesjahres.de, 01 Dec 2019; anchor.fm, 12 Apr 2020)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
In 2019 he was a contestant on the German television quiz show 'Ich Weiss Alles' [I Know Everything], where contestants test their knowledge against experts. He made it into the final round. "It was a lot of fun. I did not have high expectations, I just wanted to get past the first round and it was surprising that I managed to get so much further." (waz.de 28 Aug 2019)