Helge Meeuw

Helge Meeuw ( born August 29, 1984 in Wiesbaden ) is a German swimmer.

Career

Meeuws parents Folkert Meeuw and Jutta Weber were also swimmers, which included, among other things, in the years 1968 and 1972 to the German squad for the Olympic Games. After he had grown from 1985 to 1989 in Windhoek ( Namibia), in 2004 he made his Abitur at the Gymnasium in Wiesbaden Orange school. Is Married Helge Meeuw with the former swimmer Antje Schulte Busch, with whom he has a daughter. He lives with his family in Magdeburg and studied medicine at the Otto -von- Guericke University there.

Helge Meeuw occurred internationally for the first time at the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona in 2003 in the disciplines 200 meter backstroke and 200 meter butterfly and reached there in each case the semi-finals.

His special disciplines were followed by the 100 and 200 meter butterfly and the 50, 100 and 200 meter backstroke. About 200 meters butterfly, he became German Champion 2004, over 100 meters butterfly German champion 2005. At the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, he went on these stretches for Germany at the start, however, different in each of the semi-final heats.

At the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, he was able to reach a final for the first time. About 200 meters butterfly he was in 1:57,07 min seventh. In the same year Meeuw could for the first time to enforce internationally at the European Short Course Championships in Trieste and won the 200m butterfly in 1:52,49 behind the almost world record floating world champion Paweł Korzeniowski from Poland min the silver medal.

The Short Course World Championships in Shanghai in 2006 became his most successful World Cup. There, he won over 50 and 100m backstroke respectively bronze, about 200 meters butterfly, he was sixth.

At the German Championships in Berlin in 2006 he became a master on 50 meters backstroke, 200m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly and 200m backstroke. Earning five German championship titles in a year before anyone yet managed float and brought Meeuw so the nickname "five- star general " one. In the final of the 200m backstroke he set up with a time of 1:56,34 min a new European record; He also scored as the starting swimmer of the 4 × 100-meter medley relay his association with 53.46 s a new European record in the 100 meters back. This time would have been enough to win the 100 - meter backstroke event at the 2004 Olympic Games with six tenths of a second.

At the European Championships 2006 in Budapest Meeuw won the gold medal over 50 meters backstroke his first major title. About 100 and 200 meters back he went as a European record - holder and one of the favorites at the start, but disappoint in this race in seventh and fifth. After all Meeuw won the gold medal over 50 meters the only medal for the German men in Budapest. The Short Course European Championships in Helsinki Meeuw won a total of four medals: gold over 50m Backstroke and with the 4x50 -meter medley relay, which established in 1:34,06 minutes a new world record; also silver in the 100 and 200 meter backstroke behind the Russian Arkady Vyatchanin.

In 2007, the Frankfurt two students world championship title was secure. In the Universiade in Bangkok, he won both over 50 and 100m backstroke gold. In the German Short Course Championships in the same year in Essen, he also swam two books, over 100 and 200 meters backstroke. The European Short Course Championships in Debrecen were successful for Helge Meeuw. About 50 meters backstroke, he won silver in the 100 meters back the bronze medal.

At the German Championships and Olympic qualifiers in 2008 he presented a Jahresweltbestzeit the 100m backstroke on and improved his own European record over this distance in 53.10 s as a medal hopeful for the Olympic Games in Beijing arrived in 2008, it was not possible Meeuw to meet the expectations. About 100 meters back, he already retired from the lead. About 200 meters after all, he reached the semi-finals in eighth place, but at the same time with the "old friend " Arkady Vyatchanin. The then scheduled additional flooding Meeuw lost and was eliminated with it.

At the 2009 World Championships in Rome succeeded Meeuw, the 100m backstroke to win the silver medal behind the Japanese Jun'ya Koga. Together with Hendrik Feldwehr, Benjamin Starke and Paul Biedermann set Meeuw in the 4x100 -meter medley relay in Rome a European record ( 3:28,58 min) of what's behind the world record ( 3:27,28 min) floating U.S. quartet Michael Phelps meant winning the silver medal. Meeuw also succeeded in providing the seed float in 52.27 s in the 100 meters back a new European record.

After a break in 2010 with a focus on the First State Exam in the study of medicine Meeuw tried again in an Olympic preparation. At the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, he reached the final of the 100m backstroke and swam in 53.28 s in seventh place. In the same cast as two years before in Rome, the 4x100m medley relay swam with Meeuw the bronze medal.

The Olympic 2012 season was not without its mishaps and failures. Overall Meeuw had missed twelve weeks training failure and thus aggregated 199 hours training. The Olympic qualification he succeeded only at the European Championships in Debrecen, where he was beaten with 53.80 s the norm and the silver medals behind the Greeks Aristeidis Grigoriadis the 100m backstroke and the medley relay in the cast Helge Meeuw, Christian vom Lehn, Steffen Deibler, was able to secure Marco di Carli. At the games in London could Meeuw with sixth places the 100m backstroke in 53.48 s and with the medley relay convince together with Christian vom Lehn, Steffen and Markus Deibler first time at the Olympic competitions.

Records

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