2018 European Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2018 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

The first finals session from the 2018 European Championships is set to get underway from Glasgow, and it’s gonna be fast and furious one with four finals and four sets of semi-finals on the schedule.

We’ll open with the women’s 400 IM, where Fantine Lesaffre enters as the top seed after breaking the French Record in prelims, and will give a strong challenge to expected medalists Ilaria CusinatoAimee Willmott and Hannah Miley.

The men’s 400 free final will be an exciting one with all eight finalists capable of pulling off something big. Mykhailo Romanchuk comes in as the top seed after going 3:46.95 in prelims, with Germans Poul Zellmann and Henning Muehlleitner lurking in 2nd and 3rd, and top seed coming in Felix Auboeck and 2016 silver medalist Henrik Christiansen out in lanes 6 and 7.

In the semi-finals, Sarah Sjostrom will be busy with only 14 minutes separating the start of the 50 free and 100 fly. The top seed this morning in both, she won’t have a problem advancing through to the finals and has a much easier timeline on day 2 with the events separated by over an hour.

Adam Peaty showed he was on top form in the men’s 100 breast prelims, breaking the meet record in 57.89, and will push for another sub-58 tonight.

In the relays, the Swedish women and British men missed the final after leaving some firepower out of their prelim lineups. The Dutch are the big favorites in the women’s race, and the Russians, Italians and Hungarians will battle for the men’s crown.

Notably, with relay lineups released, the Russians will use backstrokers Kliment Kolesnikov and Evgeny Rylov on their finals roster. Also, after tying for 8th in the heats, Denmark and Poland will both get to swim in the women’s final as they have Denmark out in lane 0.

Women’s 400 IM Final

  • World Record (WR): 4:26.36 – Katinka Hosszu, 2016
  • World Junior Record (WJ): 4:39.01 – Rosie Rudin, 2015
  • European Record (ER): 4:26.36 – Katinka Hosszu, 2016
  • European Junior Record (EJ): 4:36.17, Target Time
  • Championship Record (CR): 4:30.90 – Katinka Hosszu, 2016
  1. Fantine Lesaffre, FRA, 4:34.17
  2. Ilaria Cusinato, ITA, 4:35.05
  3. Hannah Miley, GBR, 4:35.34

After Spaniard Catalina Corro Lorente held the slight edge at the halfway mark, Fantine Lesaffre and Ilaria Cusinato asserted themselves on the breaststroke leg leading the field into the freestyle. Brits Hannah Miley and Aimee Willmott were lurking in 3rd and 4th, but it was Lesaffre who got the job done with a 30.51 final 50 to win in 4:34.17, crushing her French Record from the morning by two seconds.

Cusinato was 4:35.05 for silver, just off her PB from the Sette Colli Trophy last month, and Miley was two tenths off her season-best from the Commonwealth Games for bronze in 4:35.34. Willmott made a big push at the end, closing in 30.37, but has to settle for 4th in 4:35.77. Zsuzsanna Jakabos passed Corro Lorente on the final 50 to steal 5th in 4:38.48.

Men’s 400 Free Final

  • World Record (WR): 3:40.07- Paul Biedermann, 2009
  • World Junior Record (WJ): 3:44.60 – Mack Horton, 2014
  • European Record (ER): 3:40.07  – Paul Biedermann, 2009
  • European Junior Record (EJ): 3:46.17 –  Target Time
  • Championship Record (CR): 3:44.01 – Gabriele Detti, 2016
  1. Mykhailo Romanchuk, UKR, 3:45.18
  2. Henrik Christiansen, NOR, 3:47.07
  3. Henning Mühlleitner, GER, 3:47.18

Leading by two seconds at the halfway mark, there was little doubt that 1500 specialist Mykhailo Romanchuk was going to run away with the men’s 400 free final. Opening in 26.7, the Ukrainian held 28s throughout the race before closing in 27.81 to win gold in a time of 3:45.18, lowering his own national record (3:45.58) by four tenths.

Norwegian Henrik Christiansen had a phenomenal final 150, moving up from 5th at the 250 to touch 2nd in 3:47.07, closing quick in 27.07 to successfully repeat his silver medal performance from last year. German Henning Mühlleitner was the quickest in the field coming home in 26.53, moving up from 6th at the last turn to win bronze in 3:47.18. That’s a season-best for Christiansen, while Muehlleitner has been as fast as 3:46.98 this year.

Top seed coming into the meet Felix Auboeck well from 2nd to 4th on the last 50, taking 4th (3:47.24), and Sweden’s Victor Johansson (3:47.74) was 5th.

Women’s 50 Free Semi-Finals

  • World Record (WR): 23.67 – Sarah Sjöström, 2017
  • World Junior Record (WJ): 24.33 – Rikako Ikee, 2017
  • European Record (ER): 23.67 – Sarah Sjöström, 2017
  • European Junior Record (EJ): 24.88 –  Target Time
  • Championship Record (CR): 24.07 – Ranomi Kromowidjojo, 2016
  1. Pernille Blume, DEN, 23.85
  2. Sarah Sjostrom, SWE, 23.92
  3. Mariia Kameneva, RUS, 24.21
  4. Ranomi Kromowidjojo, NED, 24.58
  5. Tamara Van Vliet, NED, 24.70
  6. Rozaliya Nasretdinova, RUS, 24.86
  7. Theodora Drakou, GRE, 24.96
  8. Ruta Meilutyte, LTU, 25.04

Pernille Blume blasted a 23.85 in the first semi of the women’s 50 free, breaking her own national record set earlier this year (23.92) and the Championship Record set two years ago (24.07) by Ranomi KromowidjojoTamara Van Vliet took 2nd in the first semi, ultimately advancing 5th to the final in 24.70.

Sarah Sjostrom nearly matched Blume’s time in the next heat, going 23.92 for the #2 seed. Russian Mariia Kameneva was 2nd and sits 3rd overall in 24.21, with Kromowidjojo 4th overall in 24.58.

Ruta Meilutyte broke her own Lithuanian Record from 2013 in 25.04, advancing to the final in 8th.

Men’s 50 Back Semi-Finals

  • World Record (WR): 24.04 – Liam Tancock, 2009
  • World Junior Record (WJ): 24.46 – Kliment Kolesnikov, 2018
  • European Record (ER): 24.04 – Liam Tancock, 2009
  • European Junior Record (EJ): 24.46 – Kliment Kolesnikov, 2018
  • Championship Record (CR): 24.07 – Camille Lacourt, 2010
  1. Robert Glinta, ROU, 24.12
  2. Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS, 24.25
  3. Vladimir Morozov, RUS, 24.29
  4. Shane Ryan, IRL, 24.57
  5. Mikita Tsmyh, BLR, 24.66
  6. Jeremy Stravius, FRA, 24.88
  7. Jonatan Kopelev, ISR, 24.92
  8. Apostolos Christou, GRE, 24.96

The men’s 50 back semis were insanely fast. Kliment Kolesnikov broke his own junior world record in the first heat, clocking 24.25 to narrowly top teammate Vladimir Morozov (24.29) who also set a best time. Kolesnikov also broke the Russian Record with that swim.

Then, in the second semi, Romanian Robert Glinta destroyed his best time in 24.12, taking over the top time in the world for the year over Ryan Murphy‘s 24.24 from U.S. Nationals (also breaking the Romanian Record).

After breaking the Irish Record in the prelims, Shane Ryan had another good to swim to qualify in 4th, and there were six more swimmers sub-25. Conor Ferguson and Simone Sabbioni actually tied for 9th in 24.99, missing the final despite two very solid swims.

Women’s 100 Fly Semi-Finals

  • World Record (WR): 55.48 – Sarah Sjöström, 2016
  • World Junior Record (WJ): 56.46 – Penny Oleksiak, 2016
  • European Record (ER): 55.48 – Sarah Sjöström, 2016
  • European Junior Record (EJ): 56.06 –  Target Time
  • Championship Record (CR): 55.89 – Sarah Sjöström, 2016
  1. Sarah Sjostrom, SWE, 56.66
  2. Svetlana Chimrova, RUS, 57.54
  3. Ilaria Bianchi, ITA, 57.79
  4. Elena Di Liddo, ITA, 57.88
  5. Louise Hansson, SWE, 57.99
  6. Anna Ntountounaki, GRE, 58.34
  7. Emilie Beckmann, DEN, 58.40
  8. Aliena Schmidtke, GER, 58.42

Only a few minutes after her 50 free swim, Sjostrom was back in the water in the women’s 100 fly semis, cruising to the win in semi #2 and the top spot for the final in 56.66. Svetlana Chimrova (57.54) and Ilaria Bianchi (57.79) took 2nd and 3rd in the heat and finish in those positions overall, with semi 1 winner Elena Di Liddo sitting 4th.

Sjostrom’s teammate Louise Hansson cracked 58 seconds for the first time to qualify 5th in 57.99.

Men’s 100 Breast Semi-Finals

  • World Record (WR): 57.13 – Adam Peaty, 2016
  • World Junior Record (WJ): 59.01 – Nicolo Martinenghi, 2017
  • European Record (ER): 57.13 – Adam Peaty, 2016
  • European Junior Record (EJ): 59.01 – Nicolo Martinenghi, 2017
  • Championship Record (CR): 57.89 – Adam Peaty, 2018
  1. Adam Peaty, GBR, 58.04
  2. James Wilby, GBR, 59.23
  3. Anton Chupkov, RUS, 59.43
  4. Fabio Scozzoli, ITA, 59.65
  5. Arno Kamminga, NED, 59.74
  6. Andrius Sidlauskas, LTU, 59.76
  7. Caba Sildaji, SRB, 59.91
  8. Darragh Greene, IRL / Kirill Prigoda, RUS, 59.92

Sitting 5th at the turn, GBR’s James Wilby roared home on the final 50 to win the first semi of the men’s 100 breast, clocking 59.23. That falls just off his prelim PB of 59.12. Arno Kamminga and Andrius Sidlauskas also broke a minute to take 2nd and 3rd in the heat.

Wilby’s countryman Adam Peaty dominated the second semi in 58.04, also just off his prelim meet record of 57.89. Anton Chupkov came back from 8th at the turn to take 2nd in the heat in 59.43, closing in 30.81 for the 3rd seed overall.

Darragh Greene and Kirill Prigoda tied for 8th in 59.92, and will require a swim-off to see who advances through to tomorrow’s final. Greene breaks his Irish national record of 1:00.20 from the prelims, becoming the first man from Ireland ever under one minute.

Swim-Off

  1. Kirill Prigoda, RUS, 59.39
  2. Darragh Greene, IRL, 1:00.44

Prigoda annihilated Greene off the start, cruising to the swim-off victory in 59.39 to advance to tomorrow’s A-final. That time would’ve been good for 3rd overall in the semi-finals.

Women’s 400 Free Relay Final

  • World Record (WR): 3:30.05 – Australia, 2018
  • European Record (ER): 3:31.72 – Netherlands, 2009
  • Championship Record (CR): 3:33.62 – Netherlands, 2008
  1. France, 3:34.65
  2. Netherlands, 3:34.77
  3. Denmark, 3:37.03

The Dutch women were the big favorites coming in, but the French managed to hold them off to win gold in the women’s 400 free relay in a time of 3:34.65.

Charlotte Bonnet split 52.20 on their second leg, and Béryl Gastaldello anchored in 53.69 to hold off Kromowidjojo (53.22). Femke Heemskerk had the top split for the Netherlands, going 2nd in 52.33, as they were a tenth back in 3:34.77.

After tying for 8th this morning, the Danes were placed in lane 0 for the final, but pulled out the bronze medal in a time of 3:37.03. Blume led them off in 52.83, not far off her PB of 52.69, and Mie Nielsen anchored them in 54.42 to hold off Britain’s Freya Anderson (53.22). GBR was 4th in 3:37.26, and Federica Pellegrini anchored in 53.59 for the 5th place Italians (3:38.11).

Men’s 400 Free Relay Final

  • World Record (WR): 3:08.24 – USA, 2008
  • European Record (ER): 3:08.32 – France, 2008
  • Championship Record (CR): 3:11.64 – France, 2014
  1. Russia, 3:12.23
  2. Italy, 3:12.90
  3. Poland, 3:14.20

The men’s 400 free relay was extremely tight through 200 metres, with all teams within about six tenths of one another. However the Russians took off on the back half, with Morozov (47.61) and Kolesnikov (47.39) unleashing big splits to pull away and get them the gold.

The Italians had three 48s and then got a 46.99 anchor from Alessandro Miressi to give them a clear silver in 3:12.99, and Poland (3:14.20) snagged bronze from Hungary (3:14.51). After Jan Switkowski led them off in 48.68, Kacper Majchrzak anchored in 48.41 to inch by the Hungarians. All four of Hungary’s swimmers went 48.6, with lead-off Nandor Nemeth the fastest at 48.61.

Kristian Gkolomeev was the only other sub-48 split in the field, going 47.51 to nearly run down Hungary for 4th (missing them by .01 in 3:14.52).

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bobo gigi
5 years ago

You can watch the full day 1 finals’ session here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TUGoAsMatA

Brownish
Reply to  bobo gigi
5 years ago

Do you have the 400free prelims? I’m interested in whether Cseh really lost his googles.

BaldingEagle
5 years ago

Somebody may have written this on the prelims thread, but, wow. France out of the final in the men’s 4 x 100 FrR. From Olympic silver in 2008, to gold in 2012, to silver in 2016, plus all those WC and Euro golds since 2008, to not making the continental final.

Bernard, Bousquet, Fignon, Agnel, Leveaux, Gilot, Stravius, Mettela, Manaudou… a golden generation that is now retired or out of the sport. That was a golden generation for France.

JustKeepSwimming
Reply to  BaldingEagle
5 years ago

Metella and Stravius are still competing

Maelstrom
Reply to  BaldingEagle
5 years ago

Equally surprising to see france’s womens team surpass their mens team, as the latter has long had more depth than the former.

Danjohnrob
5 years ago

Does Anton Chupkov really swim for Great Britain now, instead of Russia, like it says in the results above? I’m thinking that’s a typo?

Luigi
5 years ago

Men’s 4×100 free relay on Raisport, hopefully it is not geo-blocked for all of you

http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raiSport/media/Italia-daposargento-nella-4X100-SL-maschile-2a602309-f999-4275-9e81-755e40460291.html

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Luigi
5 years ago

blocked but never mind …..thanks

ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

Very surprised to see that Anderson didnt win any medal today, despite apparently being the 2nd coming of Michael Phelps.
Also very angry that the british coaches didnt use Ben Proud in the 4 x 100 prelims, since him not swimming faster than 50.08 in the last 2 years clearly indicates that he could have split 47 here, securing a medal for GB, probably even gold, if Scott would have performed at his usual level (45 flat start).

Captain Awesome
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

Why so bitter?

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  Captain Awesome
5 years ago

Not bitter, just surprised that Proud apparently would have been a lock to go 2 s faster than the other guys in the relay despite the fact that he has never gone that fast before. Also surprised to hear that Anderson is a huge star already despite never winning anything at a major competition at an age where Oleksiak was already olympic champion for a year. I just hate fans in general hyping all of their swimmers and constantly making crazy predictions for them, apparently its mostly a british and hungarian problem.

Brownish
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

Not me but you wrote about Hungary 🙂

Double Arm Freestyle
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

Proud did split 48.3 earlier this year though

Dee
Reply to  Double Arm Freestyle
5 years ago

He split 47.9 ironically lol…

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  Double Arm Freestyle
5 years ago

Still far away from being 2 s faster than 49.8. I just think its disrespectful to constantly say “if GB would have used their best swimmers, Poland for sure wouldnt have won a medal”, in addition to that i also tend to think that there might be a reason why Proud wasnt on the relay, but i guess our british friend knows better than the coaches. Its just not right to act as if GB would have been a lock for bronze here.

Dee
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

I’ll reply once, respectfully, to explain my comment.

I didnt make my comment to offend Poland. I saw it from a British perspective. We would have needed to find 3s to win a bronze medal. In our heat we had splits of 49.4 and 49.8 on the middle legs. Britain had available to replace those splits – Duncan Scott. Consistently between 47.2-47.6 on GBR relays the last 3 seasons. Ben Proud – Who hasnt split slower than 48.3 on GB relays since 2016, and has split 47.9 twice.

Critically thinking; Do you honestly think my suggestion was unfounded, or disrespectful to Poland? If you do feel it was disrespectful, I apologise, that was not my intention. I was highlighting… Read more »

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  Dee
5 years ago

Yes, i think it was disrespectful. You said “British coaches – You just gave away a medal.”. Not “With Proud and Scott in the relay, GB would have had a great shot at winning bronze” or something like that, to me thats disrespectful towards Poland. In addition to that i dont get why you just assume that Scott and Proud would have made the british relay 3 s faster. Scott in top shape can of course split 47.4 and apparently Proud can also split around 48, but i am not sure whether Proud can split 48 in the 100 free while being at his best in the 50 free/50 fly and thats certainly his focus right now.

Edit: Didnt read… Read more »

samuel huntington
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

lol what, Proud split 47.9 this year, so obviously he can split 48 and be at his best in the 50s too (21.30 at Commonwealths, 21.16 at Sette Coli and 50 fly gold last year). I find Dee’s argument to be very reasonable.

Tim
Reply to  samuel huntington
5 years ago

Yeah 47.9 and got passed on the anchor leg – how exactly would this help get bronze in this race when Italy, Hungary and Poland are going at it. I don’t think the British team could have beaten Poland as they don’t have the same grit on relays especially not 400Fr which they never race.

dfgd
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

Why are you so angry in a swimswam comment section!! How is saying freya Anderson will do great things” disrespectful to the top swimmers (Sjostrom, Blume, Ruck, Campbell, etc.). There is a reason your logic is getting a lot of downvotes!! Your comments are so bitter!

Brownish
Reply to  Dee
5 years ago

Perhaps he didn’t read Braden’s comment only ours. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, there’s the main Europeans between Olympics and he is like this. Uncomprehended.

Alex
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

Never argue with Germans, they know the best and ONLY way to do things and their opinion is always the right one:)

Clutch
Reply to  Alex
5 years ago

Well, this guy is not representative of all germans. They can also be nice 😉 ThomasLurzfan just seems like a troll. Pretty sure those exist in all nations.

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  Alex
5 years ago

Thanks!

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

Coming from an english? fan? Have you been born this year or how can you seriously make fun of the german accomplishments at the football world cup? You won your only world cup more than 50 years ago with a goal that wasnt even over the line …

SumTing Wong
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

The English Team were great , in sharp contrast to the British govt who pressured them to boycott .Even this turned up peaches as Royals & politicians declared the event Haram & were absent .This along with no Americans made for the world’s best ever sporting event .

NastyNesty
Reply to  SumTing Wong
5 years ago

There was never any doubt that England would go to Russia. And Yanks were sorely missed they always did great in the World Cup both team and fans. Best ever sporting event with such relatively small attendances? Doubt it.

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  SumTing Wong
5 years ago

And thats only your opinion, for me the football was too boring (mostly goals after set pieces) + most big nations (Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Germany) not at their best + teams like Chile, Netherlands, Italy not even qualifying + a tournament in a country where people are killed/put in jail for their political views/sexual orientation + the tournament being held in a country without much of a football culture (i think the brazilian fans in 2014 for example were much more passionate) + teams like Panama or Tunisia were completely hopeless. In the end this is all off-topic and i think that we wont get together on this topic (considering how different our evaluation of the tournament is), so maybe… Read more »

SumTing Wong
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

Sie haben gelosten .X 2 .. Wir verstehen votre hatred fur Russland . .Schadenfreude Amigo!

Pvdh
5 years ago

Wow can’t believe Hungary missed a medal after getting bronze at worlds last year. My boy Jan dropping a 48.6 flat start.

tkrisz
Reply to  Pvdh
5 years ago

2 of our guys had injuries and 2 have just finished his studies (HS/uni). They are not in peak form, but still have the potential to come back stronger next year.

Brownish
Reply to  tkrisz
5 years ago

Hope so, yesterday only Holoda swam what he’s capable. They were about 3 seconds slower than was expected. Not good for the individual races and the 4×200 relays either.

Yabo
5 years ago

Anton Chupkov looks scary good for this 200

DRESSEL IS GOD
5 years ago

Does anyone know where Martingenghi is?

bear drinks beer
Reply to  DRESSEL IS GOD
5 years ago

injured.

ThomasLurzFan
Reply to  DRESSEL IS GOD
5 years ago

I heard that he is not in Glasgow currently.

samuel huntington
Reply to  ThomasLurzFan
5 years ago

obviously

Rafael
Reply to  samuel huntington
5 years ago

He might be as a tourist.. who knows..

samuel huntington
Reply to  Rafael
5 years ago

ha I suppose you’re right

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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