Proud, Romanchuk Secure Victories On Night One Of 2023 Euro Meet

2023 LUXEMBOURG EURO MEET

• Friday, January 27th – Sunday, January 29th
• Centre National Sportif et Culturel d’Coque, Luxembourg
• LCM (50m)
• World Championships-qualifying meet
• Meet Site
• SwimSwam Preview
• Live Results (when available)

Although Swedish superstar Sarah Sjostrom bowed out of the competition due to injury, day one of the 2023 Luxembourg Euro Meet saw several Olympic-level swimmers take to the Centre National Sportif et Culturel d’Coqu pool.

Among them was 28-year-old Ben Proud of Great Britain, taking on the men’s 5om butterfly event.

Proud, the first man ever to become World Champion, Commonwealth Games Champion and European Champion in the same event (50m free) in the same year, clocked a time of 23.50 to his calendar year of racing underway.

Closely behind Proud was Dutchman Thomas Verhoeven, the national record-holder in this event, who punched a result of 23.66 for silver.

Sweden’s Louise Hansson was a multi-event winner to kick off her Euro Meet campaign, racing the women’s 100m back and 50m fly nearly one right after the other.

Hansson topped the 100m back podium with a solid result of 1:00.48 before doubling up with gold in the 50m fly. In that latter event, the former USC Trojan produced a time of 26.08, handily defeating runner-up Silvia Di Pietro of Italy who punched a mark of 26.61.

2022 World Championships bronze medalist Mykhailo Romanchuk of Ukraine ultimately won out in a duel with rising Irish ace Daniel Wiffen. Competing in the men’s 1500m free, Romanchuk posted a winning effort of 14:59.28, getting to the wall just over a second ahead of Wiffen’s 15:00.34.

Romanchuk has already been as fast as 14:56.57 this season, a time he logged in Germany last month. As for Wiffen, the Irish national record holder now ranks as the #3 performer in the world this season.

Additional Notes

• Spain’s Paula Juste topped the women’s 400m IM in a time of 4:46.24, the 3rd fastest result of her career.
• Hungarian Olympian David Verraszto was the standout performer in the men’s edition of the 4IM, producing a time of 4:19.34 for the top prize.
• Lilou Ressencourt of France punched a time of 2:13.33 for gold in the women’s 2fly, but she wasn’t alone. Germany’s Alina Baievych produced a new lifetime best of 2:13.33 to share the podium with her French competitor.
• Ukraine’s Denys Kesil won the men’s 2fly in a time of 1:57.83.