Three-Man Record-Breaking 50 Breast Highlights Day One at Euro SC Champs

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Photo Courtesy: Brent Rutemiller

During the first night of finals at the 2017 European Short Course Championships in Copenhagen, the European record was tied in the men’s 50 breast semi-finals, and then three men broke the mark in the final, all finishing within eight hundredths of each other.

That 50 breast was one of six finals contested on the first evening of the meet. Along with the two European records in the 50 breast, three world junior records were either broken or established. Read below for event-by-event full coverage of what happened on night one.

Full results

Men’s 50 Breast Semi-finals

Russia’s Kirill Prigoda tied Fabio Scozzoli’s European record in qualifying first for the men’s 50 breast final, posting a mark of 25.72. Scozolli previously swam that time back in August of 2013 in Berlin.

It won’t be an easy path for Prigoda to take gold, however, as Scozzoli, representing Italy, qualified second in 25.74, just two hundredths back, while Great Britain’s Adam Peaty, the long course World Champion and world record-holder, took third in 25.81.

Belarus’ Ilya Shymanovich (25.96) and Slovenia’s Peter John Stevens (25.97) also got under the 26-second mark, and joining them in the final will be Germany’s Fabien Schwingenschlogl (26.02), Turkey’s Huseyin Emre Sakci (26.18) and Italian world junior record-setter Nicolo Marginenghi (26.31).

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Women’s 50 Breast Semi-Finals

Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte carried the top seed into the women’s 50 breast final at the European championships, recording a mark of 29.72 in the second of two semi-final heats to edge out the 29.85 that Sweden’s Sophie Hansson recorded in the first semi.

Finland’s Jenna Laukkanen qualified third in 29.90, and Poland’s Dominika Sztandera also got under 30 seconds, finishing at 29.95.

Others qualifying for the final were Italy’s Arianna Castiglioni (30.01), Island’s Hrafnhilda Luthersdottir (30.03), Russia’s Natalia Ivaneeva (30.06) and Belgium’s Fanny Lecluyse (30.17).

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Men’s 200 Back FINAL

Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov has won the first gold medal of the European Short Course Championships, swimming past Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki on the final lap to touch first.

Kawecki, the reigning World Short Course Champion in the event, led for the entire race before Kolesnikov closed in 27.32, to Kawecki’s 28.19. The Russian 17-year-old pulled into the wall in 1:48.02, establishing the first world junior record in the event.

The time also broke Kawecki’s championship record of 1:48.33 set two years ago.

Kawecki took the silver in 1:48.46, and Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys also got on the podium with his time of 1:49.06.

Israel’s Yakov Yan Toumarkin ended up fourth in 1:51.05, followed by Croatia’s Anton Loncar (1:51.67), Belarus’ Mikita Tsmyh (1:52.04) and Hungary’s David Foldhazi (1:52.92).

Germany’s Christian Diener, the top seed out of prelims, was in contention most of the race but faded all the way to eighth on the final lap, touching in 1:53.41.

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Women’s 400 IM FINAL

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu led wire-to-wire on her way to a European title in one of her signature events, the 400 IM. Even without approaching top form, she was still by far the class of the field, leading by almost a second at the 50-meter mark and extending her lead from there.

Hosszu finished in 4:24.78, well off Mireia Belmonte’s world record of 4:18.94 set n August or Hosszu’s own championship record of 4:19.46 from two years ago. With Belmonte skipping the meet, Hosszu was never going to be challenged here.

France swept the other two spots on the podium with Lara Grangeon finishing second in 4:28.77 and Fantine Lesaffre taking third in 4:30.68.

Italy’s Ilaria Cusinato was next at 4:32.85, and rounding out the final were Spain’s Africa Zamorano (4:35.45), Portugal’s Victoria Kaminskaya (4:36.19), Hungary’s Boglarka Kapas (4:38.08) and Great Britain’s Emily Large (4:39.01).

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Men’s 400 Free FINAL

Russia’s Aleksandr Krasnykh pulled away from the field and ended up winning a comfortable victory in the men’s 400 free final in Copenhagen. Krasnykh touched in 3:35.51, less than a second off an eight-year-old championship record held by Paul Biedermann.

Hungary’s Peter Bernek grabbed the silver in 3:37.14, and Norway’s Henrik Christiansen got bronze, finishing in 3:38.63.

Sweden’s Victor Johansson (3:39.35) and Poland’s Filip Zaborowski (3:39.84) also got under 3:40, and rounding out the field were Krasnykh’s Russian teammate Viacheslav Andrusenko (3:40.70), Dutch open water specialist Ferry Weertman (3:42.00) and Sweden’s Adam Paulsson (3:43.63).

Women’s 100 Back Semi-finals

The Netherlands’ Kira Toussaint posted the top seed in the semi-finals of the women’s 100 back, stopping the clock at 56.80 in semi-final No. 1. That was good enough to beat out the mark posted by Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu in the second semi.

Hosszu, fresh off winning gold in the 400 IM, touched in 56.88, and she was well ahead of Russia’s Maria Kameneva (57.45) and Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina (57.79).

It took a time of 57.79 or better to make the final, with Denmark’s Mie Nielsen (57.71), France’s Mathilde Cini (57.73), the Czech Republic’s Simona Baumrtova (57.79) and Poland’s Alicja Tchorz (57.79) getting in.

Italy’s Federica Pellegrini, competing in the meet although not in her traditional 200 free, missed the final with a 10th-place time of 57.98.

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Men’s 100 Fly Semi-finals

Italy’s Matteo Rivolta came out on top of a deep field full of more established stars to earn the top seed for the men’s 100 fly final at the European Short Course Championships. Rivolta finished in 50.01, a quarter-second ahead of Poland’s Konrad Czerniak, who qualified second in 50.26.

Russia’s Aleksandr Kharlanov won the second semi-final in 50.28 to secure lane three for the final, and he was followed by countryman Aleksandr Sadovnikov (50.43), the Netherlands’ Joeri Verlinden (50.44) and Germany’s Marius Kusch (50.49).

Italy’s Piero Codia (50.62) and Belarus’ Yauhen Tsurkin (50.63) took seventh and eighth, respectively. Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh, the co-Olympic silver medalist in the event, missed out on the final in 10th position, touching in 50.84.

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Women’s 50 Breast FINAL

Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte won the European title in the women’s 50 breast in a time of 29.36, having just enough in the tank to get by Finland’s Jenna Laukkanen at the finish.

Meilutyte finished in 29.26, followed by Laukkanen in 29.77. Not far away was Sophie Hansson, as the Swedish teenager grabbed the bronze in 29.77.

Poland’s Dominka Sztandera finished fourth in 29.82, and rounding out the field were Island’s Hrafnhilda Luthersdottir (30.06), Italy’s Arianna Castiglioni (30.06), Belgium’s Fanny Lecluyse (30.11) and Russia’s Natalia Ivaneeva (30.31).

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Men’s 50 Breast FINAL

After Kirill Prigoda tied Fabio Scozzoli’s European record in the men’s 50 breast semi-finals, Scozzoli came back just an hour later to lower the record and win a European title.

Italy’s Scozzoli won the event in 25.62, six hundredths ahead of Russia’s Prigoda, in 25.68. And then Prigoda was just two hundredths ahead of Great Britain’s Adam Peaty, who took the bronze in 25.70.

All three men beat the previous European record, first set by Scozzoli in 2013 and then tied by Prigoda in the semi-finals.

Germany’s Fabian Schwingenschlogl took fourth in 25.99, followed by Belarus’ Ilya Shymanovich (26.02), Slovenia’s Peter John Stevens (26.11), Turkey’s Huseyin Emre Sakci (26.19) and Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi (26.48).

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Men’s 200 Free Relay FINAL

The Russian men won gold in the men’s 200 free relay to round out the first night of the European short course meet. Kliment Kolesnikov (21.24), Vladimir Morozov (20.59), Sergei Fesikov (20.59) and Mikhail Vekovishchev (20.91) combined to swim a time of 1:23.32.

Kolesnikov’s time is a world junior record, the first ever set in the SCM men’s 50 free. Fesikov pulled the Russians into first place on his leg, and Vekovischchev held on.

Italy’s Luca Dotto, Lorenzo Zazzeri, Alessandro Miressi and Marco Orsi grabbed the silver in 1:23.67, and Poland’s squad of Pawel Juraszek, Filip Wypych, Jakub Ksiazek and Konrad Czerniak took third in 1:24.44.

The Netherlands (1:24.61), Serbia (1:25.55), Hungary (1:25.55), Belgium (1:25.92) and Sweden (1:26.09) also swam in the final.

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