Kirill Prigoda Wins 100 Breast Swim-Off To Advance To Euro Final

2018 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Russian Kirill Prigoda and Ireland’s Darragh Greene tied for 8th in the men’s 100 breast semis at the European Championships, setting up a swim-off for an opportunity to swim in Saturday’s final.

Both were reasonably quick in the semis, clocking 59.92, but the field was incredibly competitive and they were forced into the swim-off.

The 22-year-old Russian opened up a big lead on the Irishman on the first 50, leading by 1.35 seconds, and cruised to victory in a time of 59.39. Had he done that in the semis, he would’ve qualified 3rd overall.

Greene broke the Irish national record both in the prelims (1:00.20) and the semis, becoming the first ever from his country to go sub-1:00, but was back in 1:00.44 here. He was out over a second slower than he was in the semis (29.54 at the 50), but had a back-half of 30.90 which was actually faster than Adam Peaty in the semi-finals.

Prigoda owns a best time of 59.05 from last summer’s World Championships, where he won bronze, and will be a major threat for silver behind Peaty out of lane 8 tomorrow.

For a full recap of day 1 finals, click here.

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About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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