Heemskerk and Ottesen Post Top Five Times in Copenhagen

The Danish National Championships kicked off today in Copenhagen.

The highlight of the first night of competition was the women’s 50 freestyle which saw Dutch teammates Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk face off against Danish star Jeanette Ottesen. The race did not disappoint as Heemskerk posted the fastest time hitting the wall in a 23.79 followed by Kromowidjojo who touched in a time of 23.88 and Ottesen who finished in a time of 23.89.

Heemskerk’s time is a season’s best and puts her second in the world rankings behind Kromowidjojo who posted a 23.64 earlier this year. Ottesen, who missed her own national record by one one-hundredth of a second, is now tied with Inge Dekker for fifth in the world.

Since Heemskerk and Kromowidjojo are international competitors they are not able to collect any hardware so Ottesen walked away with the gold.

Rikke Moller Pedersen collected her first gold of the competition posting a time of 2:19.58. She was just under a second off her season’s best of 2:18.76, which she posted two weeks ago in Norway.

Julie Aglund Lauridsen took advantage of the fact that Lotte Friis was not entered in the 800 freestyle and took the event in a time of 8:26.96. Her time places her 18th in the world rankings.

Magnus Jakupsson was the star of the men’s competition coming away with victories in both the 100 IM and 100 backstroke. Jakupsson won the 100 IM in a time of 54.47 finishing just ahead of Daniel Skaaning who hit the wall in a time of 54.78. He then went on to win the 100 backstroke in a time of 53.82.

Other winners on the evening include:

• Women’s 100 IM – Amalie Mikkelsen – 1:01.90
• Women’s 100 backstroke – Emilie Beckmann – 59.94
• Men’s 400 freestyle – Pal Joensen – 3:45.41
• Men’s 50 freestyle – Frederik Siem Pedersen – 22.17
• Men’s 200 breaststroke – Niklas Hedegaard – 2:10.61