KLU student Max Nowosad reaches his swimming best at Universiade

Logo of Universiade Napoli 2019

KLU master student Max Nowosad swam a personal best at the Summer Universiade student Olympics, held in Naples in Italy. The swimmer made it into one semi-final and one final round in two different disciplines. About 130 top student athletes represented the German colors at the 30th Summer Universiade. Nowosad participated as one of three Hamburgers within team Germany.

On his first day of competition, the Hamburg swimmer made a thrilling start in the 100-meter freestyle. He finished under the 50-second mark, a first for him, and took 13th place in the semi-finals. In the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, Nowosad helped his team to the final with his best time of the season. The German men’s team grabbed 7th place, with Max swimming in the first slot, followed by his teammates, Fynn Minuth, Henning Mühlleitner and Felix Ziemann.

Italians are "swimming enthusiasts"
According to the organizers, 1,000 swimmers competed in Naples, and the performance level was very high due to U.S. record holders such as Dean Farris. Nowosad noted the special atmosphere in the swimming stadium: "The Italians are extremely enthusiastic about swimming and cheer their people on like crazy. The audience-rows in the hall were packed, and the atmosphere was really good.  This is also due to the fact that some swimmers in Italy have the status of superstars. That's what makes the sport so popular."

"Never experienced anything like it"
Student athletes from 150 nations came to the Olympic Village from 3 to 14 July 2019 to compete in 18 different sports. "I have never experienced anything like this before," Nowosad said of his time there. "I've met people from all over the world here. This simply happens on the half-hour bus rides to the sports facilities or in the queue for the second or third security check. Everyone is exchanging experiences with everyone here because we all have two things in common: sport and study." Nowosad has been active in competitive sports for eight years and is entering his second year in KLU Master's program in Management.

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