2019 POLISH GRAND PRIX
- Saturday, November 23rd & Sunday, November 24th
- Poznan, Poland
- SCM
- Results
The nation of Poland just concluded its two-day Grand Prix event, where swimmers vied for spots on European Short Course Championships roster, a meet coming up in less than 2 weeks.
Making the grade in the men’s 100m free was winner Jakub Kraska, as the 19-year-old threw down a big-time result of 47.18 to take the gold medal in a new lifetime best.
Splitting 22.81/24.37, Kraska not only snagged the top prize ahead of veterans Marcin Cieslak and Kacper Majchrzak, who touched with silver and bronze in respective efforts of 47.29 and 47.56, but Kraska’s time was enough to qualify for Glasgow.
In fact, Kraska’s outing would have placed 7th in the final of this men’s 100m free event at the 2017 edition of the European Short Course Championships in Copenhagen.
The teen is actually not a stranger to international podiums, with the Pole having taken bronze as a member of his nation’s 400m free relay in Glasgow last year at the long course European Championships. Prior to that, Kraska snagged 100m free silver at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, in addition to medley relay bronze.
Also at this Grand Prix, both Kraska and Majchrzak snagged Glasgow-worthy marks in the 200m free, with Majchrzak leading the way in 1:43.21 to edge out Kraska by just .26. Both men’s times over the weekend would have renderd them in the top 6 in the men’s 200m free final 2 years ago in Copenhagen.
For the women, it was Paulina Piechota who got her name on the Glasgow roster, taking the 800m free in a time of 8:26.10. The only other senior qualifier was Alicja Tchorz, who got atop the podium in both the women’s 100m IM (59.51) and 200m IM (2:09.10), qualifying for the European Short Course Championships in each.
