21-Year-Old Kregor Zirk Re-Sets Estonian 200 FR Record at 1:47.06 in Stockholm

2021 SWIM OPEN STOCKHOLM

During day two prelims of the 2021 Swim Open Stockholm, 21-year-old Kregor Zirk re-set his own Estonian national record in the 200-meter free, dropping nearly a full second from his lifetime best. Zirk led prelims with a 1:47.06, taking down former national record of 1:47.99 from the 2021 Turkish LCM Open Meet in late March. Zirk is now the 67th-fastest performer in European history.

Zirk currently trains in Turkey with Tom Rushton again after the Energy Standard training group hit paused in January 2021 due to travel restrictions preventing them from meeting at the Gloria Sports Arena in Antalya. With Zirk’s move to the Turkey-based Fenerbahce club in February 2021, Zirk also became the 2nd-fastest Baltic States performer (EST, LAT, LTU) in history, only behind Lithuanian Danas Rapsys (1:44.38). Before breaking the 1:48-barrier in 2021, Zirk’s pre-pandemic personal best was 1:48.51 from the 2019 World Championships, which placed 26th overall.

Zirk also holds LCM national records in the 400 free (3:51.12), 800 free (8:23.12), and 200 fly (1:58.04) as well as SCM records in the 200 free (1:43.44), 400 free (3:42.12), 800 free (7:55.05), 100 fly (50.64), and 200 fly (1:52.25). All SCM records except the 800 free were set while Zirk was competing with ISL’s Energy Standard.

At the time of his morning effort, Zirk’s time ranks 21st in the world for the 2020-2021 season. He also currently ranks 11th in Europe for the 2021 calendar year. Finals are set to being at 6 PM local time/11 AM Central time.

2020-2021 LCM Men 200 Free

TomGBR
Dean
07/27
1:44.22
2Duncan
Scott
GBR1:44.2607/27
3Hwang
Sunwoo
KOR1:44.6207/25
4Katsuo
Matsumoto
JPN1:44.6504/05
5Fernando
Scheffer
BRA1:44.6607/27
6David
Popovici
ROU1:44.6807/27
7Kieran
Smith
USA1:44.7407/28
8Martin
Malyutin
RUS1:44.7905/21
9Alexander
Graham
AUS1:45.2206/13
10Danas
Rapsys
LTU1:45.3207/25
11Kyle
Chalmers
AUS1:45.4806/13
12Ivan
Girev
RUS1:45.4904/05
13Elijah
Winnington
AUS1:45.5506/13
14Townley
Haas
USA1:45.6606/15
15Thomas
Neill
AUS1:45.7006/13
15Felix
Auboeck
AUT1:45.7004/09
17Kristof
Milak
HUN1:45.7405/21
18Stefano
Ballo
ITA1:45.7707/28
18Antonio
Djakovic
SUI1:45.7707/28
18Matthew
Richards
GBR1:45.7704/18
21Aleksandr
Shchegolev
RUS1:45.8204/05
22Alexander
Krasnykh
RUS1:45.8804/05
23Drew
Kibler
USA1:45.9206/15
24James
Guy
GBR1:46.0404/18
25Kregor
Zirk
EST1:46.1007/25
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benthehen
2 years ago

All that work he put in freeing the ship from the Suez canal is clearly paying off

About Nick Pecoraro

Nick Pecoraro

Nick has had the passion for swimming since his first dive in the water in middle school, immediately falling for breaststroke. Nick had expanded to IM events in his late teens, helping foster a short, but memorable NCAA Div III swim experience at Calvin University. While working on his B.A. …

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