On the first day of the 2015 Luxembourg-hosted Euro Meet Hungarian Zsuzsanna Jakabos and Mireia Belmonte of Spain had a fantastic battle for the 400 IM crown. Jakabos eventually took the event by just over a tenth of a second.
Belmonte may not have had enough in the end to beat Jakabos in the 400 IM, but on Saturday she returned to the pool to exact her revenge.
As expected Jakabos took the race out strong, heading into the final 50 meters of the event with almost a full second and a half lead over Belmonte. Unlike the 400 IM the Spaniard was able to make up the ground posting a 30.35 for her freestyle split winning the event in a time of 2:15.29.
Jakabos finished second in a time of 2:15.63.
- Belmonte – 29.39/1:06.47 (37.08)/1:44.94 (38.47)/2:15.29 (30.35)
- Jakabos – 29.34/1:03.95 (34.61)/1:43.47 (39.52)/2:15.63 (32.16)
Belmonte took her second gold of the evening taking the women’s 200 butterfly posting a time of 2:10.23. Judith Ignacio did not make the win an easy one for her Spanish teammate. Going into the final 50 meters Ignacio led the race by close to a second, but once again Belmonte had an extremely strong finish, making up that ground and more, winning the event by seven tenths of a second.
- Belmonte – 30.03/1:03.91 (33.88)/1:37.69 (33.78)/2:10.23 (32.54)
- Ignacio – 29.87/1:03.08 (33.21)/1:36.82 (33.74)/2:10.93 (34.11)
Martina Van Berkel of Switzerland finished third in a time of 2:11.20.
After having a strong showing in both the 200 IM and the 50 butterfly earlier in the evening it was surprising to see Jakabos finish fifth posting a time of 2:13.94.
Marco Koch of Germany won both the men’s 50 and the 200 breaststroke. Koch took the 50 breaststroke in a time of 28.24 followed by Andrew Weatheritt of Great Britain who posted a 28.36 and Fjodor Majasojedons of Latvia who recorded a 28.46.
Koch battled with Olympic silver medalist Michael Jamieson of Great Britain for the win in the 200. Koch, who won the European Championships in the event, posted a time of 2:11.45 followed by Jamieson who finished in a time of 2:12.05.
Laurent Carnol of Luxembourg finished third in a time of 2:13.94.
Viktor Bromer of Denmark set the only new meet record of the evening winning the men’s 200 butterfly posting a time of 1:56.89. Bromer broke the 2012 record of 1:57.56 which was held by Ioannis Drymonakos.
- Bromer – 26.40/56.11 (29.71)/1:26.45 (30.34)/1:56.89 (30.44)
Bromer’s time puts him fourth in the world rankings.
Carlos Peralta of Spain finished second followed by Hungarian Laszlo Cseh who posted a time of 2:00.49.
German Paul Biedermann had an exceptional final 50 meters in the men’s 200 freestyle taking the event in a time of 1:48.56. Beidermann and Velimir Stjepanovic of Serbia were neck and neck up until the 150 mark.
Biedermann finished the final 50 meters in a time of 26.85, beating the Serbian by almost a second and a half. Stepanovic finished in a time of 1:49.98 followed closely by Philip Heintz of Germany who touched in a time of 1:50.01.
- Biedermann – 25.78/53.46 (27.68)/1:21.71 (28.25)/1:48.56 (26.85)
- Stjepanovic – 25.36/53.34 (27.98)/1:21.59 (28.25)/1:49.98 (28.39)
Heintz took the men’s 200 IM in thrilling fashion. Cseh had a lead of almost a second and a half over Heintz heading into the final 50 meters. Heintz had the fantastic finishing speed eventually winning the event in a time of 2:00.44. Cseh finished second posting a time of 2:00.68 followed by Alexis Manacas Santos of Portugal who finished in a time of 2:02.62.
Emma Wilkins of Great Britain took the women’s 50 butterfly in a time of 27.07. Wilkins was followed Jakabos who recorded a time of 27.44 and Jana Zinnecker of Germany who finished third in a time of 27.63.
Cseh took the men’s 50 butterfly in a time of 23.90 followed closely by Konrad Czerniak of Poland who posted a 23.95. Rafael Munoz of Spain finished third in a time of 24.00.
Melanie Costa took the women’s 200 freestyle in a time of 1:58.83.
Costa led the race from start to finish. Alice Mizzau of Italy finished second in a time of 1:59.57 followed by Joanna Friedrich of Germany who recorded a 2:00.86.
Adeline Williams of France took the women’s 50 breaststroke in a time of 32.07 followed by Jessica Vall of Spain who posted a 32.30. Caroline Ruhnau of Germany finished third in a time of 32.34.
Vall took the women’s 200 breaststroke with ease finishing five seconds ahead of the field. The Spaniard posted a 2:27.42 followed by Julia Willers of Germany who touched in a time of 2:32.69. Michelle Lambert of Germany finished third in a time of 2:33.48.
Julie Meynen of Luxembourg took the women’s 50 freestyle posting a time of 25.85. Lauriane Haag of France finished second in a time of 25.88 followed by Nina Kost of Germany who finished third in a time of 25.90.
Krisztian Takacs of Hungary took the men’s event in a time of 22.59. Czerniak finished second in a time of 22.73 followed by Weatheritt who posted a time of 23.23.
Sonnele Oeztuerk of Germany won the 100 backstroke recording a time of 1:02.17 while Hungarian Gabor Balog took the men’s event in a time of 55.61.
Full meet results can be found here.
Stjepanovic is from Serbia!