Pawel Korzeniowski rips big 200 fly to open Polish Championships

Former world champ Pawel Korzeniowski highlighted the first day of the Polish National Championships by blasting his way into the top 5 of the world ranks in the 200 fly.

Korzeniowski, an Olympic finalist in 2004 and 2012 in the event, blew away the Polish field with a 1:55.60 that places him 4th in the world for 2014.

Korzeniowski is only about a second back of world-leader Chad le Clos of South Africa.

Meanwhile in the men’s 50 free, Korzeniowski’s countryman Konrad Czerniak just missed the world’s top ten, pulling in a national championship with a 21.94. That is within a tenth of our current 2014 top 10 rankings.

On the women’s side it was Alicja Tchorz who grabbed the early headlines. The London Olympian won the 200 backstroke, putting up a 2:10.34 that nearly cracked the world’s top 10 and won by over 5 seconds.

The session kicked off with the distance events; the women’s 800 and men’s 1500. Joanna Zachoszcz won the women’s race, going 8:45.11. She built most of her lead in the first half of the race, and never let the lead shrink substantially from there. On the men’s side, Wojciech Wojdak picked up the win, putting up a 15:09.97

Mirella Olczak won the women’s 200 fly in the night’s closest touchout. She barely nipped Klaudia Nazieblo for the national championship 2:12.63 to 2:12.87.

Other winners were Aleksandra Urbanczyk in the women’s 50 (24.45) and Mateusz Wysoczynski in the men’s 200 back (2:00.13). Notably in that 200 back, the National Record holder and one of the country’s top hopes at the European Championships, Radoslaw Kawecki was DQ’ed. He was a 1:58.88 in prelims.

Live results are available here. The meet continues three more days through Sunday.