The one-day KNZB Challenge took place today in Alkmaar, Netherlands, with Dutch swimmers using the event as a “last chance” meet to qualify for the 2015 World Championships coming up in just a few weeks. Already earning spots on the Dutch Worlds roster in pool events are Sebastiaan Verschuren, Femke Heemskerk, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Moniek Nijhuis, Sharon van Rouwendaal and Inge Dekker.
Across all of the events on the entire day, just one swimmer cleared a Dutch World Championship qualifying mark, which as a whole are significantly faster than the official qualifying standards issued by FINA. Kromowidjojo earned a 100m freestyle mark of 53.62 to now sit as 8th-fastest in the world behind her 7th-ranked mark of 53.65 from Sette Colli Trophy. The Dutch Worlds qualifying time is set at 54.06, about a full second faster than the official FINA qualifying A-cut of 55.05.
Moniek Nijhuis has already registered a 100m breaststroke time of 1:07.18 in Eindhoven back in April to make the Dutch roster comfortably beneath her nation’s Worlds standard of 1:07.64. In today’s race, she managed to grind out a time of 1:08.34 to win the event. Her performance today squeaks under FINA’s official A-qualifying time of 1:08.36 by just two one-hundredths and further validates her place in the Dutch Worlds lineup.
17-year old Kim Busch made a mark of her own, touching in 26.66 in the 100m butterfly for a new Dutch age group national record.
Although he failed to dip beneath the Dutch Worlds qualifying mark, Joeri Verlinden did swim a 100m butterfly mark that falls under the official FINA A-cut in the event. Verlinden won the 100 fly race today in a time of 52.30, which not only shaved a solid three tenths off of his previous time this year, but it cleared the 52.52 FINA A-cut mark. Unfortunately for Verlinden, the Dutch Worlds cut stands at 51.96.
