Marco Koch Clips Cameron Van Der Burgh at Slovakian Grand Prix

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, May 23. ALTHOUGH the bulk of the swims at the Slovakian Grand Prix came from locals who are progressing through the sport, at least one heavyweight matchup occurred in the men’s 100-meter breast on night one.

Germany’s Marco Koch scored a bit of an upset victory against South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh in the men’s 100-meter breast as he touched out the world-record holder 1:01.00 to 1:01.01. That’s a big win for Koch as he continues to build towards European Championships this year. Van der Burgh, meanwhile, is focused on the Commonwealth Games this summer where he will defend his 50 and 100 breast titles from 2010. Van der Burgh’s runningmate Giulio Zorzi claimed third tonight in 1:03.87.

Birgit Koschischek set the meet record in the women’s 100-meter free with a 55.45. Annika Bruhn collected second-place honors in 56.19 with Romania’s Ionela Cosma finishing third in 56.91. Gergo Kis set the second meet record with an 8:01.16 in the men’s 800-meter free. Richard Nagy (8:04.07) and Martin Bau (8:12.49) finished second and third.

Michal Poprawa raced to the men’s 50-meter fly title in 24.79 with Kristian Takacs touching second in 24.94. Michal Navara rounded out the top three in 25.00. Katarina Listopadova followed up with a 27.18 to crush the women’s 50-meter fly finale. Anna Kozlowska touched second in 28.26 with Dalma Sebestyen earning third in 28.50. Listopadova lost her Slovakian junior record of 27.37 from 2009 as Barbora Misendova won the B final in 27.34.

Sebestyen returned in the women’s 100-meter breast to turn her bronze in the fly into gold in the 100 with a 1:10.69. No one else challenged her as Christina Nothdurfter touched second in 1:12.22 and Aurelia Trnovcova wound up third in 1:13.70.

Gabor Balog claimed the men’s 200-meter backstroke title in 2:02.49, while Tibor Lukacovsky touched second in 2:04.82. Marek Polach finished third in 2:05.19. Martin Verner hit the wall in 50.72 to win the men’s 100-meter free. Gianni Ferrero (51.52) and Michal Poprawa (51.58) rounded out the podium.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use