2024 NORDIC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Sunday, December 1st – Tuesday, December 3rd
- DGI Huset Vejle, Denmark
- SCM (25m)
- Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
- Live Results
- Livestream
The 2024 Nordic Championships wrapped up from Denmark with several close races comprising the final day’s events.
Day Three Highlights
The men’s 400m IM saw Estonia’s 18-year-old Mark Iltsisin get it done for gold in a time of 4:18.78, just .18 ahead of runner-up Christian Pedersen of Denmark.
17-year-old Pedersen settled for silver in 4:18.96 while Norwegian Maksim Ciuikov rounded out the podium in 4:21.57.
As for Iltsisin, his effort obliterated his previous personal best, a time of 4:21.84 put on the books last year.
The top two finishers in the women’s 800m free were separated by only .27 as Norway’s Bea Hovda touched in a result of 8:41.10 and Finland’s Miina-Anniina Harkanen was right behind in 8:41.37. The pair finished over 6 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack.
Then the women’s fly was also a close finish, with Venla Holma of Finland striking gold in 1:00.19 while Estonian Maari Randvali was a hair behind in 1:00.22. Teammate Kirke Madar was also in the mix, bagging bronze in 1:00.37.
Entering this competition, Holma’s career-quickest result stood at the 1:00.37 notched this past October so the 16-year-ld managed to slice .18 off that former PB. The entire podium was comprised of teenagers, with Holma aged 16, Randvali aged 15 and Madar 17 years of age.
In the women’s 100m free, Swedish countrymates Elvira Mortstrand and Emma Alsen finished in the same spots as last night’s 200m free final.
Mortstrand stopped the clock at 54.97 (26.73/28.24) and Alsen touched only .01 later in 54.98 (26.52/28.46). They were the sole competitors to dip under the 55-second threshold, with Finland’s Fia Stenman producing 55.32 for bronze.
Eneli Jefimova of Estonian clinched her trifecta of breaststroke victories, taking the women’s 50m breast on the final night of action.
Jefimova fired off a time of 29.40 as the decisive winner. The next-closest swimmers were Egle Salu, also of Estonia, and Anna Munk Fuglsang of Denmark who earned silver and bronze in respective times of 30.28 and 30.91.
Jefimova owns the Estonian national record with the 29.10 logged in the semi-finals at last year’s European Short Course Championships. There in Romania, the 17-year-old ultimately took silver in 29.12 behind winner Benedetta Pilato of Italy.
