Kacper Stokowski, Ksawery Masiuk Tie for 100 Back Title With 53.74 at Polish Nationals

2023 Polish National Championships

• April 26-29, 2023
• Olsztyn, Poland
• LCM (50 meters)
• Results

Kacper Stokowski clocked a new lifetime best in the 100-meter back at the Polish National Championships, tying national record holder Ksawery Masiuk for the title with a 53.74 on Thursday.

After reaching the wall, Stokowski and Masiuk hopped onto their shared lane line and held up No. 1s side by side. The result qualified both for the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka under the ‘A’ cut (54.03) while also equaling the automatic qualifying standard for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Their time also ranks both just inside the top 20 this season.

Stokowski shaved .08 seconds off his previous-best 53.82 from the 2018 Polish National Championships. The 24-year-old NC State standout continued his hot streak coming off a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships last month in the 100 back and a bronze medal at last December’s Short Course World Championships in the 50 back.

“Feels amazing to be back in the groove!” Stokowski wrote on Instagram.

Masiuk was .16 seconds behind Stokowski at the turn before rallying back with a 27.45 split on his final 50, finishing more than a second slower than his national-record 52.58 from last year’s World Championships. At last year’s Polish Open in early May, he went 53.40 before winning world junior titles and setting national records in both the 50 back and 100 back later that summer.

Masiuk was committed to NC State, but has since decided to remain home in Poland with his coach, Pawel Wolkow. The 18-year-old also won the 200 back title on Wednesday, posting a 1:59.01 that missed the Worlds ‘A’ cut by about a second and fell a couple seconds short of his lifetime best from last year’s European Junior Championships (1:56.62).

In other action from Olsztyn, 26-year-old Dominika Sztandera snuck under the Worlds ‘A’ cut in the women’s 50 breast with a 30.90, beating Karolina Piechowicz by over half a second.

Both 400 IM winners pulled off huge victories, but they barely missed the Worlds ‘A’ cuts in their respective events. Michal Piela, 18, dropped almost three seconds en route to a 4:17.82, less than half a second shy of the Worlds ‘A’ cut. Aleksandra Knop, 19, shaved more than two seconds off her previous best from 2018, missing the Worlds ‘A’ cut by just .26 seconds.

Jan Kalusowski (27.67) held off Dawid Wiekiera (27.88) by a couple tenths in the men’s 50 breast, finishing less than a second off his own Polish national record. Kamil Sieradzki triumphed in the men’s 200 free (1:48.13) and Wiktoria Gusc (2:00.30) edged Aleksandra Polanska (2:00.41) in the women’s 200 free, but they were all a couple seconds off their respective Worlds ‘A’ cuts.