Czech Republic Dominates ‘Duel In The Pool’ With Austria & Slovakia

2020 DUEL IN THE POOL (AUT/SVK/CZE)

• Saturday, July 18th & Sunday, July 19th
• BSFZ Südstadt
• 50m (LCM)
• Results

Nearly 120 young athletes from Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia gathered at BSFZ Südstadt in Austria for what was termed ‘Duel in the Pool’. Although it turned out to actually be a tri-team affair, the meet originally was meant to be a quad meet, with the nation of Hungary dropping out at the last minute.

The three remaining teams from AUT, CZE and SVK sent notable juniors and youth swimmers for their first international swimming competition since each nation’s respective coronavirus-pandemic-related restrictions on competition and travel have been lifted. Of note, the experience was held without spectators and with strict hygiene protocols in place, according to meet organizers.

Overall results

Czech swimmers Vojtěch Netrh from Litoměřice and Lýdie Štěpánková from Pardubice both demonstrated prowess in the breaststroking races, topping the podium across all 3 distances of the disciplines. Netrh clocked a winning mark of 29.38 in the 50m breast, 1:03.89 in the 100m and 2:19.85 in the 200m to complete his trifecta. The teen also nailed a 50m free/100m free double gold combo, hitting respective results of 24.09 and 52.36.

For Štěpánková’s part, the teen collected her hardware in marks of 31.87 in the 50m breast, 1:10.65 in the 100m and 2:34.39 in the 200m breast, while also adding a 50m fly victory of 28.60 for good measure.

On her performances, Štěpánková said “I am just happy with myself. Honestly, I expected better performances in some disciplines, but not everything is always perfect. As for our team spirit, I have nothing to complain about. Both the other members of the team and the coaches did a great job. Of course, we all have things that we must work on, either individually or together. I enjoyed the races without the possibility of cheering from the edges of the pool and supporting other team members, as always. “

Of his races, Netrh stated, “Given the situation that preceded them, I would evaluate the whole race very positively. Unfortunately, this also affected the races themselves – a ban on the presence of swimmers by the pool, a ban on loud cheering, so the atmosphere was quite unusual. I am satisfied with my performances especially from the team point of view, as I managed to turn 5 starts into 5 victories and thus contribute valuable points to the overall win,

Another Czech in the form of Tomáš Chocholatý was extra impressive in the youth competitor category, sweeping gold across all freestyle distances from the 50m to the 1500m. The teen from Pilsen just turned 16 years of age this past April, with the PK Slávia VŠ Plzeň team member firing off the following times at this Duel in the Pool:

• 50m free – 24.40
• 100m free – 52.31
• 200m free – 1:55.84
• 400m free – 4:02.51
• 1500m free – 16:05.74

“Overall, it was a very successful race, I am very satisfied with my performance. I really liked that we were younger and older juniors together, we created a good team. The atmosphere was a bit strange because the judges had protective shields and disinfected the blocks after each start. But even so, I swam well in the local pool, it’s really fast,” Chocholatý said.

Additional Winners:

• Martin Espernberger of Austria got it done in the men’s fly events, taking the 50m in a time of 24.61, the 100m in 54.72 and the 200m in 2:01.06. Both the 50m and the 200m check-in as lifetime bests for the 17-year-old, while his 100m fly time of 54.58 from the 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival was quicker by just over a tenth. He ultimately finished 7th in the 100m fly event in Baku in 55.69.
• Fellow Austrian Nina Gungl impressed in the freestyle races, touching in 57.00 for the 100m free victory and 25.59 in the 50m free.
• Slovakia’s Martina Cibulkova took the women’s 200m fly in 2:24.23 after earning silver in the 100m free in 57.65. She also stood atop the podium in the 200m free, clocking a mark of 2:05.01.

Of the competition, Czech Republic junior national team coach Roman Havrlant said, “The swimmers certainly did not have it easy, because during the races it was not possible to create a classic backdrop of team support directly on the pool, and even the coaches were forbidden to verbally encourage. 

“However, the reproduced music provided an acceptable environment for the competitors to fight in battle. It was nice to watch how the whole team joined together and how the coaches still gave the swimmers impulses for the necessary activation before their performances. It was very gratifying to swim, warm up and swim swimmers responsibly after every half-day of the race.

“Overall, we can express great satisfaction with the performances of our junior representatives, who were able to pick up to very good performances in difficult conditions. Once again, I would like to pick up the approach of all the representatives and thank the implementation team and the leadership of the association for securing the event.”