2019 European Junior Swimming Championships: Day 5 Finals Live Recap

2019 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, July 3rd – Sunday, July 7th
• Aquatics Palace, Kazan, Russia
• LCM
• Meet Site
• Entry List
• Live Result
• Live Stream

The final session of the 2019 European Junior Swimming Championships will wrap up the final 33 medals of the meet being handed out. Among the top storylines to follow on Sunday is Daria Vaskina of Russia looking to defend her title (and Meet Record) in the women’s 100 back after earlier doing so in the 50; Germany’s Isabel Gose hoping to lead her country’s 800 free relay to gold, which would be her 6th of the meet; and Russian breaststroking phenom Evgenia Chikunova seeking to add a win in the 100 to her earlier victory in the 200.

Also looking for gold on Sunday will be Dutch breaststroker Caspar Corbeau. He took bronze in the 50, silver in the 200, broke some Dutch age records, but gold has eluded him. He’s the top seed heading into the 100 breaststroke final ahead of Ireland’s Eoin Corby, who doesn’t yet have a medal of his own at this meet.

Russia enters the session with a 3-gold advantage over Italy for top of the medal table. With 11 more on offer, they can be caught, but with a couple of favored winners on Sunday, it seems unlikely.

Men’s 50 Free – Semifinal

• Euro Jr Record – TARGET TIME – 21.98
• Championships Record – Evgeny Sedov, Russia – 22.06
• Top 8:
  • Artem Selin, Germany – 22.18
  • Vladyslav Bukhov, Ukraine – 22.30
  • Kenzo Simons, Netherlands – 22.31
  • Nicholas Lia, Norway – 22.83
  • Aleksandr Shchegolev, Russia – 23.03
  • Louis Godefroid, France – 23.06
  • Filip Orlicz, Poland – 23.07
  • Malthe Lindeblad, Denmark – 23.09

Germany’s Artem Selin finished in 43rd place in the men’s 100 freestyle earlier in the meet, but where he struggled there he made up for in speed in the 50 as the top qualifier through to the final in 22.18. That 50 is a best time for him, in spite of being more than a second slower than his best time in the 100 free. That’s a new German Age Record for Selin.

He’ll have about 75 minutes to prepare for that final, where he’ll be chased primarily by Vladyslav Bukhov of Ukraine (22.30) and Kenzo Simons of the Netherlands (22.31). There’s a big gap then to the 4th qualifier Nicholas Lia in 22.83.

Bukhov’s swim is also a best time (previous: 22.55), while Simons has a 22.2 to his name from about a month ago.

Women’s 50 Fly – Semifinal

• Euro Jr Record – TARGET TIME – 25.66
• Championships Record – Maria Kameneva, Russia – 26.33
• Top 8:
  • Naele Portecop, France – 26.21
  • Anastasiya Shkurdai, Belarus – 26.42
  • Aleyna Ozkan, Turkey – 26.94
  • Costanza Cocconcelli, Italy – 27.19
  • Rita Pignatiello, Italy – 27.21
  • (TIE) Daria Klepikova, Russia/Iana Sattarova, Russia/Sophie Yendell, Great Britain – 27.25

France’s Naele Portecop broke the Championship Record in the women’ss 50 fly semi-final, touching in 26.21 to qualify 1st through to the final, which will come later in the session. The 16-year old crushed her own previous best time of 26.59. In the process, she just barely missed Marie Wattel’s old French Record for 16-year olds by .03 seconds.

Belarus’ Anastasiya Shkurdai, winner and championship/Belarusian Record setter in the 100 fly, qualified 2nd in 26.42, before a huge dropoff to Turkey’s Aleyna Ozkan for 3rd in 26.94. That swim for Ozkan is .11 seconds short of her own senior r ecord in the event.

Men’s 400 IM – Final

• Euro Jr Record – TARGET TIME – 4:10.79
• Championships Record – Semen Makovich, Russia – 4:14.65
• Gold: Apostolos Papastamos, Greece – 4:15.18
• Silver: Ilya Borodin, Russia – 4:17.09
• Bronze: Leon Marchand, France – 4:17.22

After taking silver last year, Greece’s Apostolos Papastamos won the 2019 title in the men’s 400 IM with a 4:15.18. That knocked more than 2 seconds off his best time, done at this meet last year in his silver medal performance, and won by almost the same margin. He was the oldest swimmer in the final.

The biggest improvement was on his front-half, where he cut 1.4 seconds off his fly and about 8-tenths of a second off his split from last year.

This, coupled with his win in the 200 IM in the meet, are Greece’s first gold medals at the European Junior Championships since 2014, when Apostolos Christou won the 100 back in a new World Junior Record.

Russia’s Ilya Borodin took 2nd in 4:17.09, while France’s Leon Marchand was 3rd in 4:17.22.

Women’s 100 Back – Final

• Euro Jr Record – Daria Vaskina, Russia – 59.46
• Championships Record – Polina Egorova, Russia – 59.62
• Gold: Daria Vaskina, Russia – 1:00.17
• Silver: Erika Gaetani, Italy – 1:01.62
• Bronze: Rafaela Azevedo, Portugal – 1:01.85

Russia’s Daria Vaskina defended her 2nd title of the meet, winning the women’s 100 back in 1:00.17. That time was well short, however, of her European Junior Record that was set at Russia’s National Championships earlier this year. In total, this marks the 3rd-straight win for Russia at this meet.

Italy’s Erika Gaetani is the latest Italian to catch their wave of momentum. Her silver-medal swim now adds to about 7-tenths of drop this year, and she’s only 14 years old. She’ll have up to 2 more chances to race at these European Junior Swimming Championships.

Rafaela Azevedo of Portugal placed 3rd in 1:01.85, breaking her own record of 1:01.97 from April.

Men’s 100 Breast – Final

• Euro Jr Record – Nicolo’ Martinenghi, Italy – 59.23
• Championships Record – Nicolo’ Martinenghi, Italy – 59.23
• Gold: Aleksandr Zhigalov, Russia – 1:00.75
• Silver: Caspar Corbeau, Netherlands – 1:00.77
• Bronze: (TIE) Demirkan Demir, Turkey/Vladislav Gerasimenko, Russia – 1:00.84

In the most competitive final of the meet so far, Russia’s Aleksandr Zhigalov came from half-a-second back at the turn to out-touch Netherlands’ Caspar Corebau by .02 seconds, 1:00.75-1:00.77. Not far behind (just .07 seconds), Turkey’s Demirkan Demir and Russia’s Vladislav Gerasimenko tied for bronze in 1:00.84.

Zhigalov was just 6th in the semi-finals.

Eoin Corby of Ireland, who was the 2nd seed coming into the final, slid to 5th in spite of dropping 2 tenths. That beat out the top two swimmers from his neighbors in Britain – Archie Goodburn (1:01.65) and Kyle Booth (1:02.61). Booth broke the British Record for 17-year olds earlier in the meet, but was about 2 seconds away in this swim.

Women’s 100 Breast – Final

• Euro Jr Record – TARGET TIME – 1:04.35
• Championships Record – Ruta Meilutyte, Lithuania – 1:05.48
• Gold: Kayla van der Merwe, Great Britain – 1:07.12
• Silver: Anastasia Makarova, Russia – 1:07.30
• Bronze: Evgenia Chikunova, Russia – 1:07.63

Britain’s Kayla van der Merwe added gold in the 100 breaststroke to an earlier silver in the 200, swimming a 1:07.12. That time makes her the fastest British woman in this event in 2019, surpassing the 1:07.27 done by Siobhan-Marie O’Connor. It also breaks her own British Age Record that was set in the semi-finals. She’s only 16-years old.

She’ll be part of a 10 swimmer British roster for the World Junior Championships later this summer.

The podium was a total reversal of the 200 earlier in the meet, with Russia’s Anastasia Makarova taking silver and 14-year old Evgenia Chikunova taking 3rd in 1:07.63. Chikunova showed off the endurance that allowed her to win the 200 when she had the fastest back-haalf in this 100, though she ran out of room to catch Makarova and van der Merwe.

Men’s 200 Free – Final

• Euro Jr Record – TARGET TIME – 1:43.90
• Championships Record – Yannick Agnel, France – 1:46.58
• Gold: Robin Hanson, Sweden – 1:46.93
• Silver: Matthew Richards, Great Britain – 1:47.23
• Bronze: Antonio Djakovic, Switzerland – 1:47.26

All 3 medalists were in a tight race from the start, with Antonio Djakovic getting out to the slight early lead, and holding it through the 150 mark. Robin Hanson then turned it 0n, roaring home in 26.91 to outpace both Djakovic and Matthew Richards. Hanson was just off the Championship Record of 1:46.58, and was even closer to the Swedish National Record of 1:46.76.

Russian Nakita Danilov finished just outside the medals, hitting the wall in 1:49.06. Danilov took the race out with the top 3, turning at the 100 mark in 52.92, roughly half a second behind both Hanson and Richards. Netherlands’ Luc Kroon came in 5th with a 1:49.51, with Bulgarian Yordan Yanchev right behind in 1:49.80. France’s Hugo Sagnes and Poland’s Jan Karolczak rounded out the field with times of 1:50.74 and 1:50.79 respectively.

Women’s 200 IM – Final

• Euro Jr Record – TARGET TIME – 2:11.03
• Championships Record – Ilaria Cusinato, Italy – 2:13.03
• Gold: Zoe Vogelmann, Germany – 2:13.78
• Silver: Anastasya Gorbenko, Israel – 2:13.81
• Bronze: Lea Polonsky, Israel – 2:14.29

Zoe Vogelmann added another gold medal to a historic run for the German women at this meet, winning the women’s 200 IM in 2:13.78. That swim missed the German Age Record by about 4-tenths of a second.

Three of the top 4 finishers will be eligible to race this event again this year. That includes runner-up Anastasya Gorbenko, who is the Israeli open-age record holder and will swim at the World Championships; and 4th-place finisher Katie Shanahan of Great Britain. Shanahan’s 4th-place swim of 2:14.55 is a best time by more than half-a-second.

Germany’s Giulia Goerigk was the 3rd-fastest swimmer int he semi-finals, but added 2 seconds to finish last in the final. She was off the pace after the backstroke leg, but really faded in the last 100 meters – about a second-and-a-half in that portion than she was in the semi-final.

Men’s 100 Fly – Final

• Euro Jr Record – Kristof Milak, Hungary – 50.62
• Championships Record – Egor Kuimov, Russia – 51.35
• Gold: Andrei Minakov, Russia – 51.66
• Silver: Josif Miladinov, Bulgaria – 52.11
• Bronze: Luca Armbruster, Germany – 52.54

After taking silver to European Junior Record holder Kristof Milak last year, Russia’s Andrei Minakov won gold this year, marking a 51.66 in the final. He’s one of a number of Russians racing either in Kazan or Napoli this week who will also represent Russia at the World Championships later this month. He had no trouble handling a double last year, when he went 51.8 at US Junior Nationals and then 51.12 to win gold at the Youth Olympics. He’s now been sub-52 three times in 2019 already.

Bulgaria’s Josif Miladinov took silver in 52.11, breaking his own Bulgarian record of 52.32 from April. Germany’s Luca Armbruster took bronze in 52.54. Those 3 were the top 3, in a different order, in what was a casual semi-final round on Saturday.

Women’s 50 Fly – Final

• Euro Jr Record – TARGET TIME – 25.66
• Championships Record – Naele Portecop – 26.21 (SEMI-FINALS)
• Gold: Anastasiya Shkurdai, Belarus – 26.23
• Silver: Naele Portecop, France – 26.29
• Bronze: Costanza Cocconcelli, Italy – 27.03

France’s Naele Portecop broke the Championship Record in the semi-finals earlier in the session, but was unable to match that time in the final. She added .08 seconds to take 2nd place in 26.29, while Belarus’ Anastasia Shkurdai won gold in 26.23.

Shkurdai earlier won gold in the 100 fly as well, where she broke Alieksandra Herasimenia’s Belarusian Record; her swim didn’t get the national mark here, but was good enough for gold.

Italian 50 free champion Costanza Cocconcelli took bronze in 27.03. Turkey’s Aleyna Ozkan added time and wound up 4th.

Men’s 50 Free – Final

• Euro Jr Record – TARGET TIME – 21.98
• Championships Record – Evgeny Sedov, Russia – 22.06
• Gold: Artem Selin, Germany – 21.83
• Silver: Kenzo Simons, Netherlands – 22.10
• Bronze: Vladyslav, Ukraine – 22.37

Germany’s Artem Selin broke the European Junior Record, and very-nearly broke the overall German Record, with a 21.83 in the men’s 50 free final. The German Record is a 21.81 set by Damian Wierling in 2016, and the European Junior Record was a target time of 21.98.

His best time coming into the meet was 22.26; his best time coming into the year was 22.60, done last May (when he was still appearing to be Russian).

Kenso Simons of the Netherlands took 2nd in 22.10, followed by Ukraine’s Vladyslav Bukhov in 22.37. All three swimmers were pulled to new lifetime bests.

Women’s 800 Free Relay – Final

• Euro Jr Record – TARGET TIME – 7:57.58
• Championships Record – Hungary – 7:58.99
• Gold: Russia – 8:01.62
• Silver: Great Britain – 8:03.77
• Bronze: Germany – 8:03.99

After nonstop fast-after-fast at this meet, in the penultimate event it looked more like a war of attrition as fatigue began to set in.

Russia’s Polina Nevmovenko split 1:58.46 on the anchor to take a tight race and blow it wide open at the final finish. Great Britain was 2nd in 8:03.77, while Germany took 3rd in 8:03.99. Germany’s Isabel Gose, who won the 200 free in 1:57.5, was just 1:59.0 on a rolling start after a monster week. That was her 7th medal of the meet.

Men’s 400 Medley Relay – Final

• Euro Jr Record – Russia – 3:35.17
• Championships Record – Italy – 3:35.24
• Gold: Russia – 3:35.97
• Silver: Italy – 3:37.63
• Bronze: Turkey – 3:42.76

An anticlimactic finish to a spectacular meet, Russia ran away with the title in the men’s 400 medley relay. Aside from the 53.91 backstroke leadoff from Italy’s Thomass Ceccon beating out Nikolai Zuev’s 54.03, Russia dominated the race for the last 300 meters. Including breaststroker Aleksandr Zhigalov (1:00.54), and butterflier Andrei Minakov (51.71), Russia had the fastest splits on both middle legs. Italy made some ground on the anchor when Stefano Nicetto anchored in 48.55, but Russia still won by more than a second-and-a-half.

Britain missed the podium by 2-tenths of a second, using 14-year old Jacob Whittle on their anchor leg. While he’s had some electric times for a 14-year old, his 50.25 split wasn’t enough to run down Turkey for a medal finish.