2019 April GRAND PRIX Serbia
- Friday, April 5 – Sunday, April 7, 2019
- Friday session: 4:30 PM (local time, GMT+2)
- Saturday/Sunday: prelims 9 AM / finals 6 PM (local time, GMT+2)
- 50-meter course (LCM)
- Meet info
- Live results
Velimir Stjepanovic won the 200 free, 400 free and 200 fly at the April Grand Prix in Serbia, putting up season-bests in both freestyles.
It wasn’t a very deep field, but with prize money up for grabs, Stjepanovich cleaned up. He went 1:48.85 to win the 200 free by almost three seconds, though he was still well off his own Serbian national record of 1:45.78. Stjepanovic hasn’t broken that record since 2014, though, and has only been 1:46.8 the past two years, so a mid-season 1:48.8 should rank as a solid swim. He also showed some increased endurance, going 3:53.04 in the 400 free. Again, Stjepanovic is the national record-holder with a 3:45 from 2014, but in the current Olympic cycle had only been 3:56 in 2017 and 3:51 last year.
Stjepanovic also won the 200 fly in 1:58.56. He went 1:58.5 in March, and the 200 fly is starting to look like a solid event for the 25-year-old, who hadn’t focused on it much in recent years before winning the Mediterranean Games gold medal last summer.
Caba Siladji swept the breaststrokes with three good swims. Time-wise, the highlight was probably his 59.72 in the 100 breast, just three tenths off the national record he set back in March. He was also 27.00 in the 50 breast (two tenths off his March national record) and 2:15.61 for a new lifetime-best and national record in the 200 breast.
Sebastian Sabo had a nice 23.65 win in the 50 fly, besting the field by almost two seconds.
