2018 Eindhoven Day 3: Puts & Kromo Bust Into World Rankings

2018 SWIM CUP – EINDHOVEN

• Friday, April 13th – Sunday, April 15th
• Prelims at 9am local (9:30am Friday)/Finals at 6pm local
• Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium
• LCM
• Selection for European Championships (among other meets)
• Meet Site
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Start Lists/Live Results
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Recap

Day 3 Highlights

The final night of the 2018 Eindhoven Cup, 1 of 2 European Championship-qualifying meets in the first selection period for Dutch swimmers, concluded tonight at the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium. Among the local contingents was a grouping of national German swimmers who wrecked particular havoc on the racing with multiple 1-2 finishes throughout the evening.

In the men’s 200m IM, Jacob Heidtman and Johannes Hintze finished with the respective gold and silver, clocking times of 2:01.46 and 2:01.59. Another pair of Germans finished similarly in the men’s 200m backstroke, with Christian Diener topping the podium in 1:57.81, with teammate Andreas Wiesner beside him in 2:00.93 for silver.

The women also were a part of the 1-2 party, with Lisa Graf winning gold in the women’s 200m backstroke, setting a new meet record effort of 2:09.34 to represent the only swimmer under 2:10. Jenny Mensing, also of Germany, was the next fastest, stopping the clock in 2:10.21. Of note, newly-minted 100m back national record holder Kira Toussaint finished 6th in the race in 2:14.76.

Additional highlights included a trio of racers under the 53-second barrier in the men’s 100m butterfly, led by Joeri Verlinden. His time of 52.01 beat out the competition this evening, as well as overtook his previous season-best of 52.43 from the Swim Cup Stockholm. Verlinden’s performance also dips under the 52.47 European Championships qualifying time.

Runner-up Matthys Goosen also got the job done in terms of Euro qualifying in the men’s 100m fly race, stopping the clock in 52.38 for silver. German Eric Friese rounded out the top 3 with 52.96.

Ties Elzerman set a new Dutch national record in the men’s 50m breaststroke during this morning’s prelims, scorching a time of 27.02 to claim the top seed. That mark moves Elzerman among the best in the world, ranked #4 currently.

Although he wasn’t able to replicate the speed tonight, Elzerman still struck gold in 27.30, well under the selection cut of 27.61 for Glasgow. Germany’s Fabian Schwingenschlogl earned silver in 27.33, while visiting teen swimmer Zak Aitchison from Scotland’s University of Stirling took bronze in 27.65.

Wrapping up the evening was a pair of red hot 50m freestylers in the form of Jesse Puts and Ranomi Kromowidjojo. Puts already staked his claim in the men’s 50m free field by earning the top seed in a quick 21.86, the only sub-22 mark of the field. That registered as a new meet record and put Finland’s national record holder Ari-Pekka Liukkonen on notice.

Puts carried through with a victory in the evening, ultimately shaving .01 off of his morning time to produce a gold medal-worthy 21.85. That signifies Puts’ 2nd fastest time of his young career. Liukkonen was also under 22 seconds in 21.88. Both men check-in on the worldwide rankings within the top 6 performances this season.

World champion and Olympic medalist Kromo was brilliant in the women’s 50m, taking gold in 24.25, her fastest of the season. Earlier at the Flanders Cup, Kromo earned a tie of 24.51, but with her 24.25 tonight she slides into the 6th slot among the world rankings. Her mark falls well under the 24.94 selection standard, as does Tamara van Vliet‘s silver medal-garnering time of 24.88. Kim Busch, tonight’s bronze medalist, slid under the cut by the narrowest of margins, by .01.

The initial round of Dutch swimmer European Championships qualifiers will be announced by KNZB Technical Director Andre Cats on April 18th, while the final roster will be revealed on June 27th.