Paris this August might see the fastest 800m freestyle line-up of swimmers - and heats swimmers at that - from one nation ever to be assembled in one championship pool after Sven Schwartz and Lukas Märtens battled to respective gold and silver in 7:41.14 and 7:41.31 over 800m freestyle at German Championships in Berlin this evening.

You'll recall that Schwartz, coached by Emil Guliyev at W98 Hannover, just lost his European record to teenager Johannes Liebmann, training partner of Märtens at the Magdeburg Performance centre under the guidance of Germany head coach Bernd Berkhahn:

Liebmann Sinks Schwarz’s European 800 Mark In 7:37.94 For All-Time No4 In Textile

German 19-year-old Johannes Liebmann becomes fourth teen ever to break 7:40 after Ian Thorpe (18 in 2001), Sun Yang* (19 in 2011) and Sam Short (19 in 2023)

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

Before Bill Sweetenham persuaded European swim leaders 20 years ago that a format of 'four-per-nation in heats, top two through to next round' would add spice to the continental showcase championships, Märtens would now be out of the 800m in Paris, a year after taking bronze behind Schwarz's silver and Ahmed Jaoudi's gold at World Championships last year:

M800 Free: Jaouadi Leaves Rest In Need Of Jump Leads With 7:36 Scorcher

The new 800m World champion has travelled a steep trajectory of progress since clocking 8mins 10.34 as a 17 year old: at 18, for to 7:53.99; at 19, 7:42.07; and now at 20, 7:36.88 as the fastest ever in textile with a World title in the bank.

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

In Paris at the European Championships from August 10-16, Germany could, should it want to, field Liebmann, Schwartz, Märtens and Oliver Klemet in 800m heats, each vying for one of two places, as the four fastest 800m in Germany so far in their country's multi-event selection process.

So, no need for his presence today in a race that Märtens, 400m Olympic and World champion, and the World record holder who won the 400m free in Berlin yesterday, led by a slither for most of the way but Schwartz won in the race for the end wall:

Newsletter readers, please click on the browser link in your email for updates of potted race reports and the final file later in the evening.

The story so far... with all results: