Gastaldello Says 100 Back Field Is Lucky She Missed Final: “I Was Winning That For Sure”

2023 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• December 5-10, 2023
• Otopeni Olympic Swimming Complex, Bucharest, Romania
• Short Course Meters (25 meters)
• Prelims 2:30am (ET), Finals 11am (ET)
• Entries Book
• Live Results (Omega)
• Live Results (Microplus Timing)
• Eurovision Sport Livestream

Day 4 of the European Short Course Championships is in the books. Many exciting races lit up the pool in Otopeni, including Tes Schouten shattering her Dutch Record in the women’s 200 breaststroke while some other athletes swam multiple finals or semifinals on the same night.

Below, find the comments from the protagonists of the night.

DUNCAN SCOTT (GBR)

Gold medalist in the 200 IM in a time of 1:50.98

On pushing maybe too much the breaststroke leg:

“Yes, I mean, I was feeling on the free for sure. Usually, one of my strengths is it’s coming home well in the freestyle. But I’m coming in here just trying to challenge myself on that freestyle. And I just wanted to see how quick I could be at 150 and just kind of hold on from there. But yeah, I mean, I was kind of hurting at the end.”

On what he likes of the IM races:

“One of the things I really enjoy is because there are so many elements to it, there are so many different areas to improve, which is obviously also really frustrating. But at the same time, it means coming into training, you know, not two things are the same. It could be working on a bike to turn on the water, fly kicks, backstroke, or freestyle. You know, it’s it’s mixing up all the time. Which I really enjoy.”

BERYL GASTALDELLO (FRA)

Gold medalist in the 100 free in a time of 51.48 and 9th in the 100 backstroke 10 minutes later

“Doing so many races is a very big challenge, especially tonight. I’m very disappointed to not get through the final (in the 100 backstroke). Seriously, I was winning that for sure. So they’re very lucky. But I’m super excited and proud of myself for doing what I did. I was still breathing hard in the call room. I’m super excited about the title and stuff, but it’s more than trusting myself and challenging myself to the fullest. I don’t think I could have done something harder. I could barely walk. I’ve never had to sit down after a race.  The time is pretty good too, I haven’t been at that level since for three years. And between that, I got COVID-19 and a lot of things happened.  I do believe I have 50, but it would have been in another context without summing so much. ”

MEWEN TOMAC (FRA)

Gold medalist in the 100 backstroke in a time of 49.72

“This competition is just the first step of the season because as you know there are the Olympics in Paris so I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen. I’m happy with the time. I swam fast at the French national, but here I did it faster. My goal for the 200-meter is just to enjoy and see what I can achieve.”

TES SCHOUTEN (NED)

Gold medalist in the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:16.09

On feeling that she was swimming at the WR pace:

“To be honest, no. I mean, a world record is obviously a big thing. So in my mind, it never crossed like, oh, I want to break it. Of course, you want to break that eventually. But in this race, I wasn’t thinking about a world record. I was thinking about, okay, I want to go faster than yesterday and I want to win the gold. And that worked out. Yesterday was a bit of a surprise, it was a big PB, so I tried to focus, on my own race, you never know what the other girls are going to do in the final. So, It’s not like I literally close my eyes, but maybe a bit. I was like, just tunnel vision, focusing on my own lane, in my own race.

“For the rest of the season, I think everyone dreams of an Olympic medal, so. Yeah, of course, it’s like a goal. But this is short course, long course is always a bit different.”

KIRA TOUSSAINT (NED) 

Gold medalist in the 50 backstroke in a time of 25.82

“The last year and a half wasn’t very easy. I made a couple of changes, I needed some time to figure out how to find my place. And I’m living in Spain right now. I’m very happy that it’s working out. I’m pretty close to my best time. My goal was for the season to make it three in a row. This was my third 50 gold in a row, and I’m so proud that it worked out.

“I’ll focus on 100, I’m training right now with Kylie Masse, in Spain, with her old Canadian coach who’s in Spain as well. And it’s so great to be able to train with her because we can battle in training all the time. And I really, really enjoy that because she’s amazing. I get my butt kicked the whole time. But it’s it’s great. It keeps me sharp. And, I love it!”

ALBERTO RAZZETTI (ITA)

Double silver medalist in the 200 IM and 200 fly 

“200 IM and 200 fly in the same (session) is definitely not an easy thing to do but I’m kind of used to it, I did at worlds SC, and at Euros LC too, the secret is to focus on one race at the time. I’m a bit disappointed about the 200 IM. I made a lot of mistakes, and I saw Duncan Scott, who was faster than me, so I got a bit distracted. Two silver medals is a good day of work, maybe the 200 fly could have been better without the 200 IM. I’m looking forward to battle with Duncan in the 400 IM.”