2016 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Monday, May 16th – Sunday, May 22nd
- Prelims: 10:00 AM (London Time) / 5:00 AM (Eastern Time)
- Finals: 6:00 PM (London Time) / 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)
- London Aquatics Center, London, UK
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
- Live Stream
After setting a new Championship record in the 400 IM prelims this morning in 4:30.97, Katinka Hosszu re-broke her record tonight in the final to take gold in a time of 4:30.90. The record Hosszu broke this morning of 4:31.03 was also hers, as she set it in Berlin two years ago where she also won gold.
Here’s a comparative look at the splits for Hosszu’s three Championship records, all within thirteen one-hundredths of a second of each other.
- 2014 European Finals: 1:00.39 / 2:07.71 (1:07.32) / 3:26.95 (1:19.24) / 4:31.03 (1:04.08)
- 2016 European Prelims: 1:02.68 / 2:11.19 (1:08.51) / 3:29.07 (1:17.88) / 4:30.97 (1:01.90)
- 2016 European Finals: 1:01.99 / 2:10.61 (1:08.62) / 3:28.84 (1:18.23) / 4:30.90 (1:02.06)
As the splits show, Hosszu went out much faster in the 2014 final than she did in either of her swims today, but faded hard in the freestyle in Berlin. Going out much more controlled in London, Hosszu was able to close much better.
Hosszu’s personal best sits at 4:29.89 from the Golden Tour Meet in Marseille in March. It’s no secret Hosszu will be gunning for gold in Rio and a new world record. The world record currently sits at 4:28.43 set by Ye Shiwen at the London Olympics.
Great Britain’s Hannah Miley picked up silver in 4:35.27 to give the home crowd something to cheer about, and Hosszu’s countrywoman Zsuzsanna Jakabos was 3rd in 4:38.39.
Hosszu had a tough double tonight, with only the men’s 100 breast semi’s separating her 400 IM final with her 200 back semi. Despite the tough turnaround, Hosszu made it look easy, winning the second semi in 2:09.98 and easily qualifying for the final tomorrow night 3rd overall.
Hosszu will likely have another double tomorrow night but it should be much easier than tonight. Her 100 free semi (assuming she qualifies/doesn’t scratch) will take place about an hour before her 200 back final.
