2016 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 2
- Monday, May 16th – Sunday, May 22nd
- Prelims: 10:00 AM (London Time) / 5:00 AM (Eastern Time)
- Finals: 6:00 PM (London Time) / 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)
- London Aquatics Center, London, UK
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
- Live Stream
Greece’s Andreas Vazaios has lopped off about a half second from his own 200 IM national record of 1:58.92 with a 1:58.47 to win the first semifinal heat at the 2016 European Championships. His old record was done in the 200 IM prelims of the Kazan World Championships last summer.
- Vazaios, Kazan, 2015: 25.63 – 29.98 – 34.51 – 28.80 | 1:58.92
- Vazaios, London, 2016: 25.58 – 29.49 – 34.24 – 29.16 | 1:58.47
The difference came on the front end for Vazaios, who was powered by a strong backstroke leg primarily.
Vazaios’s 1:58.47 seeds him in lane 4, the top lane, for the 200 IM final tomorrow night. He has only one other competitor that was under 2:00 in the semis, and that was Portugal’s Alexis Manacas Santos with a 1:59.93 to win the 2nd semifinal.
The 22-year-old Vazaios will start his NCAA career at NC State this fall after transferring out from a Greek university. The Wolfpack will surely benefit from this addition, as Vazaios’ 1:58.47 converts to a 1:43.84 short course yards. He contested the 50 fly prelims though did not swim it in semifinals, and will race the 100 fly later in the meet.
Does anyone give any credence to the time conversion tool. I’ve so many way off estimates, it’s a little ridiculous. Needless to say, Vazaios certainly looks like the heavy favorite for gold tomorrow. I think he’ll swim 1:57 low, possibly faster. He looked comfortable today.