Katarzyna Wilk Becomes First Polish Woman Under 25 Seconds in 50 Free

2019 POLISH NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, May 15th – Sunday, May 19th
• Olsztyn, Poland
• LCM
• Polish Selection Criteria for 2019 World Championships
• Polish Selection Criteria for 2019 Universiade
• Start List
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Live Results
• Live Stream

24-year-old Pawel Juraszek kicked off his 2019 Polish Nationals campaign with a convincing win in the men’s 50m freestyle tonight in Olsztyn. The reining national record holder, Juraszek clocked a mighty 21.87 this morning for the top seed, followed by an even faster 21.71 tonight to take the gold.

A time of 22.18 was needed to add his name to the Polish roster for this summer’s World Championships, so Juraszek captured that standard in spades. Juaszek is used to being in the World Championships mix, having finished 5th in this furious event in Budapest. There, he clocked a new National Record of 21.47 en route to 5th place, a time he would eventually lower to 21.45 in 2018.

Juraszek’s 21.71 time from tonight now ranks 7th in the world this season.

Of note in the men’s B-Final, Kacper Piotrowski and Filip Orlicz each notched European Junior Championships qualifying times with respective 1st and 2nd place finishes of 23.05 and 23.10.

For the women’s side, it was Katarzyna Wilk who got the job done in style, establishing a new Polish Record in prelims before taking the meet title in the event. This morning, Wilk produced the top-seeded effort of 24.73, a time that overtook the previous national standard of 25.01 held by Aleksandra Urbanczyk from 2013. As such, Wilk has become the first Polish female ever under the 25-second threshold in the event.

Wilk is coming off near-best times in yards at the United States Masters Swimming National Championships that were held last month in Arizona.

Wilk ultimately finished on top tonight in a time of 24.95, still the only woman in the event under 25 seconds. That cleared the 25.04 time standard needed for Gwangju. Next in line was Alicja Tchorz, who touched in 25.39, followed by Marta Ciesla in 25.60.

The women’s 400m IM saw Aleksandra Knop put up the 2nd fastest 400m IM time of her young career, hitting the wall in 4:47.35. That sits 2nd only behind her own fastest of 4:45.38 from last year. Nevertheless, Knop has qualified for the European Junior Championships, having beaten the 4:52.92 minimum.

Dawid Szwedzki punched his ticket to Gwangju in the men’s 400m IM, rocking a gold medal-worthy time of 4:16.15. That comfortably dipped under the 4:17.90 time standard needed for this summer’s World Championships and also sits just outside the top 25 performances in the world this season.

For Szwedzki’s career, his outing this evening checks-in as a monster new personal best and his first time under 4:17, as his previous lifetime quickest was the 4:17.88 from 2 years ago.

Two Paulina’s took the top spots in the women’s 100m fly event, led by Paulina Nogaj. The 21-year-old clocked a winning mark of 59.36, while her teammate Paulina Peda notched silver in 59.79. Both women needed at least a mark of 58.48, however, to make the World Championships squad.

Semi-finalist in the men’s 100m fly from the 2017 World Championships, Konrad Czerniak, missed his qualification time in the men’s edition of the event tonight. The 30-year-old Lublin veteran stopped the clock in 52.36, a time well off the 51.96 needed for Gwangju.

Back in 2017, Czerniak wound up finishing 13th overall in a time of 51.60.

Czerniak was also in tonight’s 50m freestyle final, finishing 22.74 for 4th place.

Wojciech Wojdak busted out a near-personal best in the men’s 1500m freestyle final, blowing away the field in a mark of 14:59.99. That represented the only sub-15:00 time of the night and marks just the 4th time the 23-year-old has been in such territory.

Needing a time of 15:07.38, Wojdak indeed notched a time quick enough for World Championships consideration. He now ranks 15th in the world so far this season. That bodes well for Wojdak’s 400m and 800m freestyle events here, the latter of which he is the reigning Polish National Record with his gold medal swim from Budapest.