A ton of big name swimmers traveled to Geneva, Switzerland this week for the CIG Challenge International de Genéva. Americans Kate Ziegler and Molly Hannis took huge wins on day one, along with international stars Laszlo Cseh and Zsuzsanna Jakabos.
See full results of the 2016 Geneva International Challenge here.
Women’s 400 Free
Eight months after her return to the competitive scene, former world-record holder in the 1500 distance Kate Ziegler dominated the 400 free in 4:14.76, coming in nearly six seconds ahead of second-place Zsuzsanna Jakabos of Hungary (4:20.07). British swimmer Hannah Burvill grabbed third with 4:21.58.
Men’s 100 Free
Former Russian national champion Andrey Grechin took the win in the men’s 100 free, clocking 50.36. Alexandre Haldemann of Switzerland finished just behind in 50.49, followed by Vladimir Popov of Bulgaria, who swam a 50.74.
Women’s 50 Breast
Fresh off a third-place finish in the 100 distance at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Austin, University of Tennessee post-grad Molly Hannis absolutely destroyed the competition in the 50 breast, finishing in 31.28. She is currently ranked second-fastest in the world this season in the event with a 30.54 from the FINA World Cup in Dubai.
Second-place Constance Dean of Great Britain completed the race in 33.42. Swiss native Lisa Mamié finished just behind Dean in 33.43.
Men’s 200 Breast
American pro Brad Craig took the win in the 200 breast, clocking 2:16.60 to second-place Swiss swimmer Jacques Läuffer, who swam the event in 2:17.01. Although he swam in the 18-and-under finals, Great Britain’s David Murphy swam the third-fastest time with 2:19.97.
Women’s 200 Back
Jakabos took a huge four-second win in the 200 back with 2:14.91. Great Britain’s Isobel Jones came in second with 2:18.91, followed by Swiss swimmer Alexandra Froissart in 2:20.74.
Men’s 50 Back
Swiss record-holder in the 200 fly Nils Liess took the win in the 50 back, clocking 26.53. Second place was a tie between his Swiss countrymen Timothy Schlatter and Thierry Bollin, each finishing in 26.93.
Men’s 1500 Free
French open water specialist Logan Fontaine grabbed the win in the 1500 free, finishing in 16:00.79, well ahead of Great Britain’s 16-year-old Max Murphy, who swam the race in 16:10.20. Switzerland’s Andrea Mossini-Vellen finished third in 16:20.86.
Women’s 100 Fly
The women’s 100 fly was a battle of Swiss swimmers. Svenja Stoffel ended up with the win, holding a narrow lead throughout and finishing in 59.97. Sasha Touretski, the Swiss record holder in the 50 free, came in next with 1:00.27, followed by Maria Ugolkova in 1:00.83.
Men’s 100 Fly
Unsurprisingly, defending world champ in the 200 distance Laszlo Cseh of Hungary took the win in the 100 fly in 52.55, over a second ahead of second-place Liess (53.75). This swim moves previously-unranked Cseh up to 20th in the world rankings for this season. Third place went to Swiss swimmer Aleksi Schmid in 54.59.
Women’s 200 IM
Italy’s Laura Letrari took the win in the 200 IM, clocking 2:15.82. Her win came from a 29.29 fly leg and a speedy 30.75 to finish the race. Jakabos wasn’t quite able to match her starting and ending speed, so she grabbed second in 2:16.03. Dean came up third with 2:18.15.
Shouldn’t the title say win in the 400 free instead of 1500?
Ziegler? Blast from the past! I was wondering if it was a tech issue where the site loads an old page. I am a huge swim nerd, and I did not know she was swimming. Wow.
She’s been swimming at Pro swim series and Nationals since this past summer, you’re late.