Dutch Men Destroy 200 Free Relay Record En Route To Euro SC Gold

2021 LEN EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The top finishing team in this heated men’s 4x50m freestyle relay destroyed its respective national record, as the Netherlands just out-touched Italy by only .03.

The Dutch foursome of Jesse Puts, Stan Pjinenburg, Kenzo Simons and Thom de Boer combined to stop the clock in a monster mark of 1:22.89. That garnered them the gold ahead of the Italian squad of Alessandro Miressi, Thomas Ceccon, Lorenzo Zazzeri and Marco Orsi who settled for silver in a super quick result of their own in 1:22.92.

 

For the Dutch, their time here tonight at the first finals session of these European Short Course Championships obliterated the previous national standard of 1:24.43. Three of the four teammates tonight were on that relay, which posted the outing at the 2020 Amsterdam Christmas meet.

Splits for the previous and new records are below:

Old Dutch Record – 1:24.43
Puts – 21.08
Ties Elzerman – 21.91
Simons – 20.65
de Boer – 20.79

New Dutch Record – 1:22.89
Puts – 21.10
Pjinenberg – 20.74
Simons – 20.59
de Boer – 20.46

The primary game-changers this time around included Pjinenberg splitting over a second faster than Elzerman did in Amsterdam.

Also, de Boer, an Olympic finalist in the LCM 50 free from Tokyo, also was much quicker, shaving .33 off of the 20.79 anchor he logged in the previous record. He was the quickest of the field tonight besides Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov who wrapped up his nation’s relay in 20.45 for bronze.

Puts posted the fastest opening 50m of the field with his 21.10, with the next closest represented by Italy’s Alessandro Miressi‘s 21.20. Of note, the fastest split of the entire field on any leg rested at Lorenzo Zazzeri‘s mind-blowing 20.24 on Italy’s 3rd leg.

For their part, the runner-up Italians finished just .02 outside of the 1:22.90 national standard put on the books at the 2018 FINA World Short Course Championships.

According to FINA rankings, the Dutch time of 1:22.89 renders the squad as 4th fastest performers of all-time in this men’s SCM 4×50 free event.

All-Time Men’s SCM 4×50 Free Relay Performers

  1. France – 1:20.77, 2008
  2. USA – 1:21.80, 2018
  3. Russia – 1:22.22, 2018
  4. Netherlands – 1:22.89, 2021

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Human Ambition
2 years ago

World record is not from 2018 but from Rijeka 2008

tea rex
Reply to  Human Ambition
2 years ago

I wonder if that record could be broken today. And, I mean by any 4 swimmers in the world.

jeff
Reply to  tea rex
2 years ago

Dressel’s best flat start ever is 20.16, Manaudou’s best split is 20.04, Rylov’s is 20.22, and Zazzeri popped a 20.24. Those times combine to 1:20.66 so I guess it’s theoretically possible if they’re all at their peak and swim their hearts out but probably highly unlikely.

Performance enhancing supersuits
Reply to  Human Ambition
2 years ago

That‘s a rubberized record. FINA didn‘t approve it. The WR is from 2018

NOT the frontman of Metallica
Reply to  Human Ambition
2 years ago

Rubber suits or not, French sprinting was really ridiculously good at that time.
I mean everyone wore suits back then and several records have been beaten, but this one feels almost impossible.

Swimfan
Reply to  NOT the frontman of Metallica
2 years ago

They were good, no doubt about it. However, the supersuits helped certain swimmers with certain body types. Do you think Cesar Cielo will come even close to Dressel wearing a jammer?

Moreover, I can’t accept the fact, that Paul Biedermann is the 200 free WR holder and not Yannick Agnel, who put a masterclass in 2012.

its ya buoy
Reply to  Swimfan
2 years ago

Cielo was a 5x world champion wearing a jammer, and went 21.32 textile which isn’t too shabby. I don’t think you can say he wouldn’t be good without a suit.

Swimfan
Reply to  its ya buoy
2 years ago

4*world champion in a jammer, not 5.

Dressel is a 7*world champion in a jammer, with a more intense schedule. (individually, not counting relays)

21.04 is daylight ahead of 21.32

Proud, Manaudou, Morozov, Fratus: all have better PBs in textile than Cielo.

Let alone Remel Dressel. Don’t get me started on mister 17.6 no fins.

About Retta Race

Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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