2015 European SC Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships

• Wingate Institute in Netanya, Israel
• Wednesday, December 2nd-6th
• Prelims at 9:30 am local (2:30 AM EST)/Finals at 5:30 pm local (10:30 am EST)
• Meet Information
• Event Timeline
• Live Stream: LEN Webcast
• Live Results

(Note for those reading results: Only TWO swimmers per nation may advance to the semi-finals, therefore you will see some swimmers from bigger countries “skipped” in the order of QTs in preliminary results)

MEN’S 50 BREASTSTROKE – SEMI-FINAL

Tonight kicked off with a semi-final of the men’s 50m breaststroke, where long course world record holder, Adam Peaty, from Great Britain scored the top seeded time in 26.28, just .16 off of the championship record. Slovenia’s Damir Dugonjic followed right behind in 26.37 for the 2nd seed, with Italy’s Fabio Scozzoli rounding out the top 3 in his mark of 26.41. The men contest the final later on this same session.

WOMEN’S 50 BREASTSTROKE – SEMI-FINAL

Two women dipped beneath the 30-second threshold in semi’s, led by Belgium’s Fanny Lecluyse in 29.76. Lecluyse broke her own national record in the event after blasting away her previous mark of 30.13 at last year’s SC championships in Doha. She was followed closely behind by Finnish swimmer, Jenna Laukkanen who scored a time of 29.83 in the first heat.

Laukkanen also knocked off her own Finnish national mark, taking her swim below 30 seconds for the first time ever for a Finnish swimmer. Laukkanen’s previous record was the 30.05 she swam just in October at the Finnish Grand Prix. Other qualifiers include Russia’s Natalia Ivaneeva and the Netherlands’ Moniek Nijhuis who touched in times of 30.26 and 30.32, respectively. Turkish junior phenom, Viktoria Gunes, is on the board as the 5th seed with her mark of 30.32.

MEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

Polish swimmer Radoslaw Kawecki earned his country’s first gold medal of these championships, touching first in the final of the men’s 200m backstroke. Kawecki earned a time of 1:48.33 to blow his previous best this season of 1:52.60 out of the water and swim within a second of his career-best of 1:47.38. Kawecki’s time ranks as a new championship record, overtaking his own time of 1:48.51 from back in 2012 in Chartres, France.

Of his performance tonight, Kawecki said, “The European Record was not on my mind, for a moment for two I was watching the race on the scoreboard, today only winning was important.”

Home country swimmer, Israeli Yakov Toumarkin nabbed the silver in tonight’s race, registering a time of 1:49.84 for his efforts. Toumarkin scorched his own personal best of 1:51.55, no doubt fueled by his home crowd cheering throughout the Wingate Institute. Said Toumarkin of winning on his home turf, “It’s a great feeling to get the first medal for Israel here. It was a great swim, it’s my best time ever so I’m pretty satisfied with this result.”

Italy’s Simone Sabbioni held on for the bronze and touched in 1:50.75.

WOMEN’S 400 IM – FINAL

In another incredible swim, Katinka Hosszu from Hungary laid waste to her competitors, registering a gold medal-winning time of 4:19.75. Her mark tonight is just .29 off of the World Record she set in prelims of the event, where she swam an on-fire 4:19.46. Hosszu was able to beat the field, which included Great Britain’s Hannah Miley and France’s Lara Grangeon by a solid 7 seconds.

For Hosszu, the #IronLady said “It was a good swim, after all, though as I told in the morning, if I miss a couple of turns, I might be off the WR – and that happened exactly during the freestyle leg. However, I’m not so sad as the time is very close to my morning mark so it has a positive message after all that it was a good effort.”

Miley nabbed the silver in a time of 4:26.87, about 3 seconds off of her career-best, while Grangeon wound up with the bronze in her time of 4:27.31.  Miley expressed post-race excitement, but tempered in light of where she’s at with her training, exclaiming, “I’m totally happy. Perhaps I could have been a little faster but I’m not tapered for these championships as I’ve already started to prepare for the long-course season.”

For Grangeon, she lowered her newly-minted French National Record from prelims (4:29.14) even further, hacking almost 2 seconds off the mark for a new record. Her time from prelims signified the first time a French woman had taken the short course 400 IM beneath the 4:30 threshold.

Of note, Hosszu’s partner in crime, Hungarian Zsuzsanna Jakabos was disqualified in the event.

This podium now stands as the top 3 ranked women in the world in the event.

MEN’S 400 FREESTYLE – FINAL

A tight battle ensued between Germany’s Paul Biedermann and Hungary’s Peter Bernek, yet Bernek held on for the win in a time of 3:35.46. Biedermann would finish just half a second behind in 3:35.96.  Bernek holds the Hungarian National Record in the event with the 3:34.32 he clocked in Doha at the 2014 World SC Championships.

For Biedermann, however, this marks his swiftest 400m freestyle in a textile suit, dating back to his 3:37.06 mark in Dubai in 2010.  Previous to that, his best was 3:32.77 from the super suit era of 2009. Coming into this meet, Biedermann sat as the 3rd-fastest this season with his 3:38.95 from German Nationals.

Finishing with the bronze tonight is Italy’s Gabriele Detti who touched in 3:37.22, sending all 3 of these men to the top of the short course world rankings for this season.

WOMEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – SEMI-FINAL

Hosszu was back in action a short time after her incredible 400m IM performance, registering the top seed out of the women’s semi’s of 100 backstroke.  Hosszu finished in a time of 56.49 to score the only sub-57 mark of the field and looks to be the favorite headed into tomorrow’s final.

Czech swimmer Simona Baumrtova holds the 2nd seeded time in her swim of 57.13. Baumrtova has a swift swim in her, as she is the Czech Republic’s national record holder with her time of 56.28 from 2013’s edition of the meet. Polish swimmer Alicja Tchorz sits in the 3rd spot with her time of 57.59, while the remaining swimmers scored times scattered over 57-high/58-low, including Russia’s Daria K. Ustinova in 57.94.

MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – SEMI-FINAL

Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh, who turns 30 years old today, registered a swift sub-50 mark of 49.93 for a new Hungarian National Record and the 2nd seed headed into tonight’s semi-final. Leading the field coming into the session was Italy’s Matteo Rivolta, the only other sub-50 swimmer with a time of 49.72 from his heat.

Tonight’s semi’s saw just Rivolta maintain his sub-50 position, with his time of 49.55 to register a new Italian National Record in the event. Birthday boy Cseh is seeded right behind in 50.10, while Rivolta’s Italian teammate, Piero Codia, will also swim alongside him in the final, as he touched in 50.19 for the 3rd seed out of tonight’s semi’s.

Also making the finals is Belorussian swimmer Yauhen Tsurkin (50.45), Marius Kusch from Germany (50.51), Pavel Sankovich and Nikita Konovalov from Belarus and Russia, respectively, who touched simultaneously in 50.65. Grecian athlete Andreas Vazaios also made the final in 8th with this time of 50.76.

Somewhat surprisingly, mainstay swimmer Konrad Czerniak from Poland, who just finished a terrific series of swims at the Spanish Nationals, finished in 9th just outside the final.

WOMEN’S 50 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

Jenna Laukkanen from Finland swam away with the gold medal in the sprint breaststroke event, clocking a time of 29.71 for the win. Closely behind with the silver was Fanny Lecluyse of Belgium, who scored a mark of 29.84 to collect her hardware.  Both women had broken their respective National Records in semi’s earlier this session, and Laukkanen lowered her newly-minted mark of 29.83 even further.

Russia’s Natalia Ivaneeva also went sub-30, clocking a time of 29.99 for bronze in the race.

Of her gold medal, Laukkanen said, “I’m really surprised about my victory as I didn’t expect a medal at all, but I felt very well in the morning and it was a really good race for me.”

MEN’S 50 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

As tight a race as you can get in tonight’s men’s edition of the 50m breaststroke final, as Slovenia’s Damir Dugonjic claimed the gold in 26.20, just .01 of a second ahead of Great Britain speed demon Adam Peaty. Peaty’s time of 26.21 scored him the silver, while Russian Oleg Kostin nabbed bronze in 26.35. Ireland’s Alexander Murphy also collected the bronze, as he touched in 26.35 to tie with Kostin. For Murphy, that marks a new Irish National Record for the 20-year-old.

Dugonjic was noticeably excited in the water with his post-finish water smash and later commented on his unexpected victory. “I did not expect to beat Adam Peaty, but it was a good race for me as one of the old guys in the field. Of course, I’m really happy with this win.” Dugonjic is turning 28 in February.

Peaty was moderately satisfied with his own effort, commenting after the race that “It’s good not rested for this meet, so it’s a pretty good time for me. I came her just to race, so it’s pretty good for me.”

MEN’S 4X50 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL

The final race of the night was taken by the Russian foursome of Evgeny Sedov, Andrey Arbuzov, Aleksandr Kliukin and Nikita Konovalov, who collectively won the men’s 4×50 freestyle relay in a time of 1:23.49. Splits were as follows: 20.71 Sedov, 20.94 Arbuzov, 20.93 Kliukin, and 20.91 Konovalov.  They were the only squad of the field to have each swimmer clock a 20-point time.

Italy’s combination of Federico Bocchia, Marco Orsi, Guiseppe Guttuso and Filippo Magnini were able to touch down with the silver, earning a time of 1:24.44 for their collective efforts. The fastest and only sub-21 split of the foursome came from Orsi, who was clocked at 20.46.

In a time of 1:25.01, Belarus was able to nab the bronze, with 3rd leg Viktar Staselovich swimming the swiftest split of the squad in his 21.03.