Charlotte Bonnet Bags Double Gold To Open 2024 Geneva Challenge

2024 GENEVA CHALLENGE

• Friday, January 19th – Sunday, January 21st
• Geneva, Switzerland
• LCM (50m)
• Results

The 57th annual Geneva Challenge kicked off today from Switzerland with a solid domestic contingent hosting elements from Great Britain, France, Sweden and beyond.

Right off the bat, 21-year-old Antonio Djakovic of the host nation nailed a new meet record en route to winning gold in the men’s 800m free.

Stopping the clock at 7:58.01, Djakovic overtook the previous meet mark of 7:59.14 Italian Gabriele Detti put on the books at last year’s edition of this competition.

Djakovic was able to out-touch Daniel Jervis of Great Britain, with Jervis settling for silver only .02 behind in 7:58.03. Also landing on the podium was Tyler Melbourne-Smith of GBR who notched an effort of 8:04.46.

Djakovic’s time established a new personal best for the 2021 Short Course World Championships medalist, representing his first-ever outing under the 8:00 barrier. Additionally, his time registered a new national record, overtaking his own 8:02.38 put up at last year’s Sette Colli Trophy.

As for Jervis, the Welsh ace owns a lifetime best of 7:47.81 in this event, a time he registered last year to become GBR’s 4th-quickest performer in history.

French Olympian Charlotte Bonnet dove in for two events to kick off her campaign, with the 28-year-old taking on the women’s 100m free and 200m IM.

Bonnet found success in each, turning in a 100m free time of 55.29 followed by a 2IM effort of 2:13.90. The latter checked in as a new Geneva Challenge meet record, with her outing surpassing the previous mark of 2:15.12 Maria Ugolkova logged in 2019.

Additional Notes

• Sweden’s Erik Persson notched a time of 2:12.05 to win gold in the men’s 200m breast, beating the field by about 6 seconds in the process.
• University of Stirling’s Holly McGill nabbed the gold in the women’s 200m back by about 3 seconds, nailing 2:12.86 for a result about a second outside her lifetime best of 2:12.84 from 2022.
• The men’s 400m IM saw Italy’s Emanuele Potenza put up a time of 4:22.30 to earn the top spot. That beat out the previous meet record for 18&U swimmers of 4:26.55 he produced at last year’s edition of the competition.