Matea Samardzic Breaks Own Croatian Record In 200 Back To Win Bronze

2016 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 2

• 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

Croatian backstroker Matea Samardzić set a new Croatian national record in the 200 backstroke at the European Championships earning her the bronze medal in a time of 2:09.24. Samardzić broke her own record which was 2:09.73 set at a meet in her native Croatia this past February.

Seeded 5th heading into the meet, Samardzić moved up a few spots to win her first European Championship medal. She finished 15th in this event two years ago in Berlin.

Here’s a comparative look at the splits from her race tonight in London and her previous national record set in February:

• Samardzić, February 2016: 30.68 / 1:03.46 (32.78) / 1:36.90 (33.44) / 2:09.73 (32.83)
• Samardzić, May 2016: 30.82 / 1:02.97 (32.15) / 1:35.95 (32.98) / 2:09.24 (33.29)

Samardzić was much stronger in the middle 100 in London (1:05.13) than she was earlier this year in Croatia (1:06.22) which was ultimately the difference maker for her in getting the record.

Her time of 2:09.24 moves her into 15th in the world rankings for 2016, giving her a reasonable shot at a second swim at the Olympic Games as she has already qualified achieving the ‘A’ standard in February.

The winner of the race was Katinka Hosszu of Hungary in 2:07.01, while silver went to Daryna Zevina of the Ukraine in 2:07.48 (who set a new national record of her own).

Samardzić is also entered in the 50 (24th) and the 100 back (8th).

Formerly attending Saint Peter’s University in New Jersey, Samardzić now attends SMU after transferring in 2015.