2019 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, July 3rd – Sunday, July 7th
- Aquatics Palace, Kazan, Russia
- LCM
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18-year old Jan Cejka of the Czech Republic has broken the National Record in the men’s 200 meter backstroke for the 2nd time in as many days. Swimming to gold (by 8-tenths of a second) on Saturday in Kazan, he posted a 1:57.51. That broke his own record of 1:59.12 from the semi-finals, which in turn broke Tomas Luldvik’s 2017 record of 1:59.43.
Comparative Splits:
| 1st 50 | 2nd 50 | 3rd 50 | 4th 50 | Final Time | |||
| Tomas Ludvik | 2017 | Old Record | 27.84 | 30.24 | 30.63 | 30.72 | 1:59.43 |
| Jan Cejka | 2019 | Semifinals Record | 27.94 | 30.55 | 30.42 | 30.21 | 1:59.12 |
| Jan Cejka | 2019 | Finals Record | 27.59 | 30.06 | 30.12 | 29.74 | 1:57.51 |
Cejka’s strength comes in the back-half of his race: he actually trailed France’s Mewen Tomac at 100 meters, but ran him down on the 3rd 50, and pulled away for a comfortable victory on the final length.
This record has not been a great foreshadower for the Czech Republic. Ludvik, who broke the record as a junior-eligible swimmer, has still not beaten that time; the previous record holder Roman Dmitriyev broke the record at a relatively-young 21 years old, and he too never surpassed his former time. Prior to that, the record had stood since 1993, when another 21-year old Rastislav Bizub broke the record, and never again improved his time.
Cejka’s previous best time was a 2:01.16 done in May. He also has a bronze medal in this meet from the 100 back.
Cejka (excellent backstroker) was third in the 100 back. Silver medalist was Zuev.