2016 SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- December 6th – December 11th, 2016
- Windsor, Ontario, Canada
- WFCU Centre
- SCM (25m)
- Prelims: 9:30 AM EST/Finals: 6:30 PM EST
- Start Lists/Results
- Live Stream ($)
Former NCAA stars Simonas Bilis and Kristian Gkolomeev both broke their respective national records in the men’s 50 free heats this morning at Short Course Worlds in Windsor. Bilis went 21.43 breaking the 22-year-old Lithuanian record of 21.52 set by Raimundas Mazuolis back in 1994. Gkolomeev went 21.47 to break the previous Greek record of 21.65, set by Apostolos Tsagkarakis back at the 2008 European Championships in Rijeka, Croatia.
Bilis’ swim puts him 4th overall heading into the semi-finals tonight, while Gkolomeev sits 6th. Russia’s Vladimir Morozov leads the way at 21.27.
After both experiencing massive success in the NCAA, Gkolomeev for Alabama and Bilis for NC State, they have both succeeded at the international level in long course over the past two summers. Gkolomeev finished 7th at the 2015 World Championships in the 5o free, and followed up with a 13th place finish at the Olympics in the same event. Bilis made the final in Rio in the 50, finishing 8th.
Both men have the 100 free remaining on their schedules, and Gkolomeev also has the 50 fly.
Kristian Wins Gold in Tokyo 2020… you heard it here first.
Has Nathan Adrian, Josh Schneider or Jimmy Feigen retired or did they opt not to participate here?
Just an fyi, it might help if you list which countries they compete for in the article… 🙂
Simonas Bilis… Lithuania and Kristian Gkolomeev…Greece. If you click on the red highlighted name, it tells you at the top of the page.☺