Mare Nostrum, Canet: Laszlo Cseh Drops Hammer in 400 IM

CANET, France, June 14. HUNGARY's Laszlo Cseh improved upon his status as the second-best swimmer in the men's 400 IM in history during the first day of the Canet stop of the Mare Nostrum series.

Cseh crushed his previous personal-best time of 4:09.59 from the European Championships earlier this year when he stopped the clock in 4:07.96, giving Michael Phelps a much stronger competitor in the event.

Previously, Phelps had a full three seconds on the world with his global standard of 4:06.22, but Cseh definitely closed the gap with the 4:07.96.

Brazil's Thiago Pereira wound up second in 4:15.31, while Gergo Kis took third in 4:16.73.

Australian Eamon Sullivan grabbed another sprint victory in the series when he hit the wall in 48.60 for the men's 100 free title. Sweden's Stefan Nystrand (49.12) and France's Nabil Kebbab (49.20) took second and third, while Brazil's Cesar Cielo touched fourth in 49.22.

In the women's sprint free event, France's Alena Popchanka won in 54.79 during the 100-meter swim. Germany's Petra Dallman took second in 55.37, while Hungary's Evelyn Verraszto placed third in 55.46.

In a close contest, Great Britain's Kristopher Gilchrist grabbed the men's 200 breast title in 2:12.92, while France's Hugues Duboscq placed second in 2:13.09 and Hungary's Daniel Gyurta took third in 2:13.60.

With Leisel Jones not competing in the event, Austria's Mirna Jukic took the opening for a win in 2:25.03 in the women's 200 breast. Norway's Sara Nordenstam took second in 2:27.13, while Great Britain's Kirsty Balfour rounded out the top three in 2:29.53.

Romania's Dragos Coman pocketed the men's 400 free title in 3:51.74, while Denmark's Mads Glaesner (3:52.04) and France's Nicolas Rostoucher (3:53.42) finished second and third.

Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski held off Austria's Dinko Jukic, 1:55.81 to 1:56.13, in the men's 200 fly, while Kaio Almeida of Brazil placed third in 1:57.12.

Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland clocked a meet-record time of 2:07.63 in the women's 200 fly, just off her top time of the year that was a 2:07.12 from the Sette Colli meet earlier this month. Hungary went 2-3 in the event with Eszter Dara (2:09.91) and Beatrix Boulsevicz (2:11.07) comprising the rest of the podium.

Great Britain's Gregor Tait surfaced from a close battle in the men's 100 back with a winning time of 55.38. Germany's Helge Meeuw (55.66), Spain's Aschwin Wildeboer (55.71) and Brazil's Guilherme Guido (55.79) all finished close together as well.

Another meet record fell, this time when Australia's Sophie Edington checked in with a 1:00.84 in the women's 100 back. She downed Spain's Nina Zhivanevskaya, who took second in 1:01.57, while Croatia's Sanja Jovanovic placed third in 1:02.24.

While not as fast as her best time this year of an 8:26.88 from the Barcelona stop of the Mare Nostrum, South Africa's Wendy Trott still set a meet record with a time of 8:28.83 in the women's 800 free. Denmark's Lotte Friis finished second in 8:30.90, while France's Camelia Potec took third in 8:35.58.

After Cseh's incredible swim, Denmark's Julie Hjorth-Hansen busted a meet record in the women's 400 IM with a time of 4:40.34. Hungary's Zsuzsanna Jakabos finished second in 4:41.96, while South Africa's Jessica Pengelly wound up third in 4:42.68.

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