2018 European Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2018 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 3-9, 2018 (swimming portion)
• Glasgow, Scotland
• Tollcross International Swimming Centre
• Meet Central
• Program
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Live Stream (Europe w/ English commentary)

The fourth finals session from Glasgow will feature six more finals along with four sets of semi-finals.

We’ll see swimmers race for the medals in the women’s 200 fly, men’s 100 back, women’s 200 free, men’s 200 breast, men’s 200 IM and the mixed 4×100 medley relay. Additionally, athletes in the women’s 100 back, men’s 200 free, women’s 200 breast and men’s 50 fly will race for a spot in tomorrow’s final.

Among tonight’s highlights include Russian Kliment Kolesnikov in the men’s 100 back after he broke the 50m world record on Saturday. The 18-year-old broke his own Junior World Record in the semi-finals in 52.95, and based on how he split that (26.0/26.9) he’ll likely have a lot left in the tank for tonight.

The men’s 200 breast final will also be exciting with 100m silver and bronze medalists James Wilby and Anton Chupkov racing in their primary event, and they’ll be pushed by Ross Murdoch, Luca Pizzini and Kirill Prigoda who were all 2:08 in the semis.

The women’s 100 back semis will also feature Katinka Hosszu‘s first individual swim at a finals session during the competition, as she enters the semis seeded 7th from prelims after going 1:00.15. Italian Margherita Panziera leads that field in 59.86, just .06 off her Italian Record set earlier this year.

Three smaller National Records did fall in the heats, as Nyls Korstanje (23.40, NED), Kristian Gkolomeev (23.42, GRE) and Daniel Zaitsev (23.58, EST) all broke their respective national marks in the men’s 50 fly.

Women’s 200 Fly Final

• World Record (WR): 2:01.81 – Zige Liu, 2009
• World Junior Record (WJ): 2:06.29 – Suzuka Hasegawa, 2017
• European Record (ER): 2:04.27 – Katinka Hosszu, 2009
• European Junior Record (EJ): 2:06.71 Target Time
• Championship Record (CR): 2:04.79 – Mireia Belmonte, 2014

1. Boglarka Kapas, HUN, 2:07.13
2. Svetlana Chimrova, RUS, 2:07.33
3. Alys Thomas, GBR, 2:07.42

Hungarian Boglarka Kapas turned with 50 metres to go in the women’s 200 fly final, but closed in 32.92 to overtake everyone and win the gold medal in a time of 2:07.13. That improves her personal best of 2:07.54 set earlier this year, and gives Hungary a 200 fly sweep after Kristof Milak won the men’s event.

Svetlana Chimrova was the rabbit, going out quick in 28.65 and maintaining the lead through the 150. She managed to close reasonably well to hold off everyone other than Kapas to take silver in 2:07.33, improving her Russian Record of 2:07.50, and Commonwealth champ Alys Thomas of Great Britain was 3rd in 2:07.42.

German Franziska Hentke (2:07.75) was locked out of the medals in 4th, while Portugal’s Ana Catarina Monteiro broke her own National Record for 5th in 2:08.06.

Men’s 100 Back Final

• World Record (WR): 51.85 – Ryan Murphy, 2016
• World Junior Record (WJ): 52.95 – Kliment Kolesnikov, 2018
• European Record (ER): 52.11 – Camille Lacourt, 2010
• European Junior Record (EJ): 52.95 – Kliment Kolesnikov, 2018
• Championship Record (CR): 52.11 – Camille Lacourt, 2010

1. Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS, 52.53
2. Evgeny Rylov, RUS, 52.74
3. Apostolos Christou, GRE, 53.72

Kliment Kolesnikov won his second backstroke gold of the meet with a swim of 52.53 in the men’s 100, lowering his own World and European Junior Records of 52.95 set in the semis. He led the field at the 50 in 25.53, and closed in 27.00 to hold countryman Evgeny Rylov off. The 18-year-old also broke the 2009 Russian Record of 52.57 previously held by Arkady Vyatchanin.

Rylov took silver in 52.74, and was the only man to come home sub-27 in 26.63. However, he didn’t have enough early speed (out in 26.11) to contend with Kolesnikov.

Apostolos Christou of Greece pulled out the bronze medal in 53.72, running down 50m silver medalist Robert Glinta (53.81). Glinta was out fast in 25.56, but faded coming home in 28.25.

Women’s 100 Back Semi-Finals

• World Record (WR): 58.00 – Kathleen Baker, 2018
• World Junior Record (WJ): 58.83 – Regan Smith, 2018
• European Record (ER): 58.12 – Gemma Spofforth, 2009
• European Junior Record (EJ): 59.62 – Polina Egorova, 2017
• Championship Record (CR): 58.73 – Mie Nielsen, 2016

1. Anastasiia Fesikova, RUS, 59.38
2. Katinka Hosszu, HUN, 59.67
3. Carlotta Zofkova, ITA, 59.88
4. Mie Nielsen, DEN, 59.89
5. Margherita Panziera, ITA, 59.90
6. Georgia Davies, GBR, 59.97
7. Katalin Burian, HUN, 1:00.01
8. Kira Toussaint, NED, 1:00.02

Anastasiia Fesikova improved her season-best 59.45 to win the first semi-final of the women’s 100 back in 59.38, with Georgia Davies the only other swimmer sub-1:00 in the heat (59.97).

The second semi-final proved to be faster as a whole, with five of the finals qualifiers coming from the heat. Katinka Hosszu broke a minute for the first time this year to touch 1st in 59.67, followed by Carlotta Zofkova, Mie Nielsen and Margherita Panziera who went 59.88, 59.89 and 59.90.

Both Zofkova and Panziera will be looking for the Italian National Record tomorrow night, which is held by Panziera at 59.80.

Men’s 200 Free Semi-Finals

• World Record (WR): 1;42.00 – Paul Biedermann, 2009
• World Junior Record (WJ):  1:46.40 – Ivan Girev, 2017
• European Record (ER): 1;42.00 – Paul Biedermann, 2009
• European Junior Record (EJ): 1:43.90 – Target Time
• Championship Record (CR): 1:44.89 – Pieter van den Hoogenband, 2002

1. Danas Rapsys, LTU, 1:45.33
2. James Guy, GBR, 1:46.44
3. Mikhail Dovgalyuk, RUS, 1:46.69
4. Mikhail Vekovishchev, RUS / Filippo Megli, ITA, 1:46.70
5. –
6. Jacob Heidtmann, GER, 1:46.83
7. Velimir Stjepanovic, SRB, 1:46.84
8. Duncan Scott, GBR, 1:46.97

Russian Mikhail Vekovishchev won a tight first semi-final in the men’s 200 free, touching in 1:46.70 over German Jacob Heidtmann (1:46.83) and Serbian Velimir Stjepanovic (1:46.84). Heidtmann was one of four swimmers to split sub-1:46 on the men’s 800 free relay.

Top seed Danas Rapsys made a big statement from the second semi, out in a blazing 24.26 at the 50 and 51.11 at the 100. He held strong coming home, and won by over a second in 1:45.33 to fall just two-tenths shy of his Lithuanian National Record (1:45.12) which is also the top time in the world this year. Sun Yang swam a 1:45.15 in September, which is the only swim (other than his own) faster than Rapsys’ semi-final swim in the 2017-18 season.

James Guy, Mikhail Dovgalyuk and Filippo Megli were 2nd through 4th in the heat, and qualify in those same positions with Megli tied with Vekovishchev. Duncan Scott squeaked into the final in 8th.

Women’s 200 Breast Semi-Finals

• World Record (WR): 2:19.11 – Rikke Moeller-Pedersen, 2013
• World Junior Record (WJ): 2:19.64 – Viktoria Gunes, 2015
• European Record (ER): 2:19.11 – Rikke Moeller-Pedersen, 2013
• European Junior Record (EJ): 2:19.64 – Target Time
• Championship Record (CR): 2:19.84 – Rikke Moeller-Pedersen, 2014

1. Yuliya Efimova, RUS, 2:23.49
2. Molly Renshaw, GBR, 2:24.39
3. Rikke Moeller-Pedersen, DEN, 2:24.56
4. Marina Garcia, ESP, 2:24.67
5. Fanny Lecluyse, BEL, 2:25.76
6. Jessica Vall Montero, ESP, 2:25.94
7. Chloe Tutton, GBR, 2:26.62
8. Jessica Steiger, GER, 2:26.84

Jessica Vall Montero of Spain easily won the first semi of the women’s 200 breast, with Chloe Tutton leading a group of three who were 2:26-high.

Following tonight’s trend, the second semi-final was significantly faster. Yuliya Efimova cruised through the first three lengths before moving up from 5th to 1st on the last 50, splitting 35.90 to post the top time by far in 2:23.49.

Molly Renshaw, Rikke Moeller-Pedersen, Marina Garcia and Fanny Lecluyse were all faster than the winner of the first semi to qualify 2nd through 5th overall.

Men’s 50 Fly Semi-Finals

• World Record (WR): 22.27 – Andriy Govorov, 2018
• World Junior Record (WJ): 23.22 – Michael Andrew, 2017
• European Record (ER): 22.27 – Andriy Govorov, 2018
• European Junior Record (EJ): 23.28 – Target Time
• Championship Record (CR): 22.73 – Andriy Govorov, 2016

1. Andrii Govorov, UKR, 22.85
2. Ben Proud, GBR, 23.01
3. Kristian Gkolomeev, GRE, 23.22
4. Damian Wierling, GER, 23.34
5. Konrad Czerniak, POL / Andrea Vergani, ITA, 23.37
6. –
7. Nyls Korstanje, NED, 23.38
8. Oleg Kostin, RUS, 23.41

Ben Proud won the first semi of the men’s 50 fly in 23.01, followed by Kristian Gkolomeev who broke his Greek National Record from the heats in 23.22.

World Record holder Andrii Govorov easily won the second semi in 22.85, and he’ll take a run at his 22.27 WR tomorrow night. Nyls Korstanje touched 2nd in 23.38, breaking his Dutch National Record by .02 from the prelims, and Oleg Kostin was 3rd (23.41) to qualify 8th. Laszlo Cseh was 23.48 and misses the final in 9th.

Women’s 200 Free Final

• World Record (WR): 1:52.98 – Federica Pellegrini, 2009
• World Junior Record (WJ): 1:56.12 – Duo Shen, 2014
• European Record (ER): 1:52.98 – Federica Pellegrini, 2009
• European Junior Record (EJ): 1:56.78 – Target Time
• Championship Record (CR): 1:55.33 – Sarah Sjöström, 2016

1. Charlotte Bonnet, FRA, 1:54.95
2. Femke Heemskerk, NED, 1:56.72
3. Anastasia Guzhenkova, RUS, 1:56.77

Charlotte Bonnet established the early lead in the women’s 200 free, and with Femke Heemskerk not too far back at the 150, flew away with a 29.36 split coming home to win in 1:54.95. That lowers her own personal best, just three-tenths off of Camille Muffat‘s National Record (1:54.66), and moves her into 4th in the world this season. She also breaks Sarah Sjostrom‘s 2016 Championship Record of 1:55.33.

Heemskerk really hurt the last 50, posting the slowest final 50 in the field, but did manage to hang on for silver by .05 over Anastasia Guzhenkova in 1:56.72. Great Britain’s Eleanor Faulkner (1:58.26) snagged 4th from lane 1, holding off Germany’s Isabel Gose (1:58.42) who was the fastest coming home in 29.34.

Men’s 200 Breast Final

• World Record (WR): 2:06.67 – Ipei Watanabe, 2007
• World Junior Record (WJ): 2:09.39 – Anton Chupkov, 2017
• European Record (ER): 2:06.96 – Anton Chupkov, 2017
• European Junior Record (EJ): 2:09.64 – Target Time
• Championship Record (CR): 2:07.47 – Marco Koch, 2014

1. Anton Chupkov, RUS, 2:06.80
2. James Wilby, GBR, 2:08.39
3. Luca Pizzini, ITA, 2:08.54

Russia’s Anton Chupkov used his patented back-half to blow away the field in the men’s 200 breast, turning 5th at the 100 before splits of 32.53 and 31.89 to win gold in a new European Record time of 2:06.80. He knocks off his 2:06.96 from last summer’s World Championships, and now sits just .13 off of the world record.

James Wilby closed in 32.80 to get by Italian Luca Pizzini for 2nd in 2:08.39, with Pizzini narrowly missing the Italian Record once again in 2:08.54. Tied at the 150, Ross Murdoch (2:08.55) outdid Kirill Prigoda (2:08.77) coming home for 4th, but missed running down Pizzini for a medal by .01.

Men’s 200 IM Final

• World Record (WR): 1:54.00 – Ryan Lochte, 2011
• World Junior Record (WJ): 1:57.06 – Hayang Qin, 2017
• European Record (ER): 1:55.18 – Laszlo Cseh, 2009
• European Junior Record (EJ): 1:59.06 – Johannes Hintze, 2017
• Championship Record (CR): 1:56.66 – Laszlo Cseh, 2012

1. Jeremy Desplanches, SUI, 1:57.04
2. Philip Heintz, GER, 1:57.83
3. Max Litchfield, GBR, 1:57.96

Switzerland’s Jeremy Desplanches was very strong on all four strokes in the men’s 200 IM final, but his 33.93 breaststroke split was what set him apart as he opened up a half-second lead over the field and only increased the advantage coming home to win the title in a time of 1:57.04. That falls just shy of his National Record (1:56.86) set last year.

German Philip Heintz wasn’t as strong as usual on the breast, but was the fastest coming home (27.80) to move up from 4th to 2nd in 1:57.83, and Great Britain’s Max Litchfield was back in 3rd in 1:57.96.

Hugo Gonzalez (1:58.77) overtook both Mark Szaranek and Andreas Vazaios for 4th on the free leg, as Szaranek and Vazaios tied for 5th in 1:58.88.

Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay Final

• World Record (WR): 3:38.56 – USA, 2017
• World Junior Record (WJ): 3:45.85 – Russia, 2015
• European Record (ER): 3:41.56 – Great Britain, 2017
• European Junior Record (EJ): 3:47.99 – Russia, 2018
• Championship Record (CR): 3:44.02 – Great Britain, 2014

1. Great Britain, 3:40.18
2. Russia, 3:42.71
3. Italy, 3:44.85

Georgia Davies (59.12), Adam Peaty (57.27) and James Guy (50.96) all had strong legs to give Freya Anderson a seven-second lead over Russia and Vlad Morozov heading into the freestyle. Anderson blew away expectations, splitting a blistering 52.83 as the Brits broke their own European Record by well over a second in 3:40.18.

Kliment Kolesnikov swam better than he did individually leading off their team in 52.51 (won’t officially count as WJR), and Yuliya Efimova (1:05.07) and Svetlana Chimrova (57.30) were solid. Morozov went for it on the anchor, flipping in 21.88 before fading home (25.95) to split 47.83 as the Russians took silver in 3:42.71.

The Italians won bronze in 3:44.85, with individual gold medalist Alessandro Miressi splitting 47.60 on freestyle, and Ranomi Kromowidjojo anchored in 52.98 as the Dutch took 4th in 3:45.57.