Franzi Breaks Own World Record Set 8 Years Ago in 200m Freestyle

By Norbert Agh and Phil Whitten.

BERLIN, August 3. EIGHT years after she set a world record in the 200m freestyle under bizarre circumstances, and ten years after she burst on the international swimming scene as a precocious 14 year-old to win a silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Germany's favorite athlete and most popular personality has done it agaain.

Franziska van Almsick, now a wizened old woman of 24 but sill very much a rebel, broke her own world record from the 1994 World Championships in Rome with a brilliant 1:56.64.

Franzi went out fast and led all the way, but unlike
Hoogie yesterday, she had the strength to hold the WR pace until the end. The crowd went crazy here in Berlin and Franciska burst into tears right after
she got out the pool.

Men's 200m backstroke
The men's 200m backstroke featured an unusual configuration, with two Croatians and an Austrian occupying the middle the lanes. It ended in a Croatian sandwich, with Austria's and Stanford University's Markus Rogan squeezed between the two Croatians.
Gordan Kozulj, a University of California grad training this summer with Cal co-head coach Mike Bottom, won in 1:58.70 in a very tight finish. Rogan was second in 1:58.83 and Marko strahija third 6-hundredths slower.

Rogan, the 2002 NCAA champion, turned in fifth at the 100 aand,a s expected, made his move. But he faded in the final 10 meters as Kozulj zipped by him.

After the race Kozulj said: "This is my lucky pool, because once I set the short course world record in the World Cup here. This was a very tough race which gave me a headache."

Rogan said: "If you miss winning narrowly twice, as I have here, it is a bit annoying. I would rather win once than be on the podium three times."

Women's 200m breaststroke
Fifteen year-old Austrian Mirna Jukic was as good as her word. The confident Jukic, newly crowned European champion in the 200m breaststroke, haad predicted she would beat her elders here in Berlin. And she did. In a national record 2:25.83.

Four women went for the gold, with defensding Olympic, world and Euro champion Agnes Kovacs, the heavy favorite. But at the finish, not only as Jukic the winner, but Kovacs was shut out of the medals, relegated to fourth place.

Germany's Anne Poleska, a junior at the University of Alabama, was a distant second at 2:27.37 while Sweden's Emma Igelstrom, winner of the 50 and 100m breast events, wwas third in 2:27.61.

Jukic looked good from the start, never letting go of the lead position. Jukic, Igelstrom and Kovacs was the order after the 100, but Poleska came on very strong in the back half to pass all but the Austrian teen.

After the race Jukic said "it did not go well in the 100m breast, but tonight I did a perfect race and won the gold I dreamed of!"

Men's 100m butterfly
There was a sense of anmticipation in the air as the finalists in the men's 100 meter fly were introduced. The crowd again went crazy, wanting homeboy Thomas Rupprath to win the gold… and break Michael Klim's elusive world record.

The speedy backstroker-flyer was happy to oblige and took the race out fast, though no one in this very fast field was ceding him the race.

At the 50, it was Russia's Igor Martchenko turning first in 24.21, with Rupprath only a hundredth behind (24.22). Right on their heels were the Ukrainian duo of Denis Silantiev (24.28) and Andriy Serdinov (24.37).

But Rupprath forged ahead after the turn and appeared headed for the world record. But at 85 meters, he began to tie up, feeling the effects of his speedy pace.

He hung on to set a Championship record, clocking 51.94 — just six-hundredths off his European record, 13-hundredths behind Klim's world mark and the fourth fastest swim ever.

Ukraine place 2-3, with Serdinov (national record 52.17) second and Silantiev (52.36) third.

Martchenko faded to fourth, while Olympic champiuon Lars Frolander of Sweden was fifth (52.59) and France's Franck Esposito, the 200m champ, was sixth (52.83).

Italy was the surprise winner of the evening's final event, the men's 4x200m freestyle relay, and the Italians did it in grand fashion, destroying the opposition and setting a new Championship record.

The team of Matteo Pellicani (1:48.39), Emiliano Brembilla (1:47.73), Federico Cappellazzo (1:48.44)and Massi Rosolino (1:47.62) clocked 7:12.18, almost a full second under the old Championship mark of 7:13.10 set by West Germany 15 years ago in Strasbourg.

Germany was second in 7:17.59 while Greece, which led Germany through 600 meters, was the surprise bronze medalist at 7:20.67. Greece is one 200-meter freestyler shy of having a truly world-class relay.

The event was full of surprises as Portugal placed fifth and Ireland finished seventh.

Semifinal highlights

The women's 50m backstroke is shaping up as a duel between Germany's Sandra Volker, the world record-holder (28.25) and Spain's Nina Zhivanevskaia.

Zhivanevskaia led the semis with a 28.71 second effort, typing Volker's Championship record set in Istanbul in 1999. The German qualified second tonight in 28.82. Just sueaking into the final, in eighth position, was Romania's Diana Mocanu, a double gold medalist in Sydney two years ago. Mocanu, however, is having a very disappointing meet here in Berlin.

In the absence of WR-holder Inge De Bruijn of Holland (24.13), the women's 50 free appears to be a two-woman duel between short course WR-holder Therese Alshammar of Sweden and Slovakia's Martina Moravcova.

Alshammar, the top semifinalist at 25.26 has the speed, but Moravcova, only 7-hundredths back at 25.33, has been having a much better meet. Last night she set a Championship record of 57.20 in winning the 100 fly. Call it a toss-up.

Hoping to upset the favorites are 17 year-old A. Herasimenia of Belarus (25.42) and Germany's 29 year-old Kathrin Meissner (25.47), one of the few remaining products of the East German system still competing.

In an exclusive interview with SwimInfo yesterday, Russia's Alex Popov, 30, expressed confidence he would swim well in the 50. "I don't think I've trained hard enough tgo do well in the 100," he said, "but the 50 should be another story."

Popov's training was interrupted by the various controversies surrounding his longtime coach, Gennadi Touretski.

Sure enough, the Czar was true to his promise. Popov led all semifinalists with a 22.03 second effort — second fastest in the world this year and only 8-hundredths off his Championship mark set in Helsinki two years ago.

Poland's Bart Kizierowski, a University of California grad, was second fastest, winning his heat in 22.12. Holland's Pieter van den Hoogenband — winner of both the 100 and 200 earlier in the meet — qualified third in 22.43.

The women's 200 fly semifinalists were tightly bunched, with Hungary's 17 year-old Eva Risztov, already a double silver medalist here, leading the way at 2:10.13.

Germany's Annika Mehlhorn (2:10.51) and Poland's Otylia Jedrejczak (2:10.71) — the pre-mee favorites –qualified second and third. Lurking in fifth place is the ever-dangerous Dane, Mette Jacobsen, 29.

This race will go to the woman with the hungriest heart. After the semis, Risztov told SwimInfo: "I really want to win tomorrow after my two silver medals, but it will be very hard since I will swim in the 400 free final too!"

Still, we would not bet against the young Hungarian.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Berlin, Germany
DAY SIX: August 3, 2002

FINALS RESULTS

WOMEN'S 200m FREESTYLE
FINALS RANKING
1:56.64 VAN ALMSICK,Franziska GER 03-08-02 BERLIN WR
1:56.64 VAN ALMSICK,Franziska GER 03-08-02 BERLIN ER
1:56.64 VAN ALMSICK,Franziska GER 03-08-02 BERLIN CR

1. VAN ALMSICK F. GER 78 0.84 27.14 56.27 1:26.33 1:56.64 WR
2. POTEC Camelia ROM 82 0.90 28.05 57.89 1:27.98 1:57.80
3. POPCHANKA Alena BLR 79 0.88 27.58 57.31 1:27.66 1:57.91n
4. FIGUES Solenne FRA 79 0.80 27.97 57.59 1:28.28 1:59.63
5. ROCA Laura ESP 80 0.79 28.63 59.04 1:30.15 2:01.33
6. ROUBA Tatiana ESP 83 0.87 28.17 58.62 1:30.01 2:01.45
7. HJORTH−HANSEN Julie DEN 84 0.85 29.10 59.72 1:30.86 2:01.62
8. VAN ROOIJEN Manon NED 82 0.75 28.29 58.64 1:29.87 2:02.24

MEN'S 200m BACKSTROKE
1:55.15 PEIRSOL Aaron USA 20-03-02 MINNEAOPOLIS WR
1:56.57 LOPEZ-ZUBERO Martin ESP 23-11-91 TUSCALOOSA ER
1:58.09 SELKOV Vladimir RUS 05-08-93 SHEFFIELD CR

1. KOZULJ Gordan CRO 76 0.71 27.84 57.63 1:27.88 1:58.70
2. ROGAN Markus AUT 82 0.73 27.91 57.97 1:28.10 1:58.83
3. STRAHIJA Marko CRO 75 0.62 27.97 58.38 1:28.77 1:58.89
4. MERISI Emanuele ITA 72 0.68 28.16 57.84 1:28.35 1:59.17
5. FLOREA Razvan ROM 80 0.75 27.55 57.47 1:28.63 1:59.47
6. DUFOUR Simon FRA 79 0.68 28.19 57.59 1:28.25 1:59.52
7. SANCHEZ Jorge ESP 77 0.77 28.52 58.36 1:28.78 1:59.61
8. MEDVESEK Blaz SLO 80 0.73 28.53 59.02 1:30.08 2:01.36

WOMEN'S 200m BREASTSTROKE
2:22.99 QI Hui CHN 13-04-01 HANGZHOU WR
2:24.03 KOVACS Agnes HUN 20-09-00 SYDNEY ER
2:24.90 KOVACS Agnes HUN 20-08-97 SEVILLA CR

1. JUKIC Mirna AUT 86 0.81 33.06 1:10.01 1:47.72 2:25.83 n
2. POLESKA Anne GER 80 0.83 33.53 1:11.07 1:48.79 2:27.37
3. IGELSTROM Emma SWE 80 0.82 33.48 1:10.19 1:48.38 2:27.61
4. KOVACS Agnes HUN 81 0.87 33.40 1:10.61 1:48.56 2:28.16
5. REMENYI Diana HUN 86 0.78 33.94 1:12.02 1:50.50 2:28.92
6. FARINA Sara ITA 78 0.93 34.39 1:12.44 1:51.04 2:30.26
7. BOGGIATTO Chiara ITA 86 0.80 34.69 1:11.80 1:50.59 2:30.59
8. DOMENECH Belen ESP 85 0.87 34.93 1:12.77 1:52.27 2:31.93

MEN'S 100m BUTTERFLY
51.81 KLIM Michael AUS 12-12-99 CANBERRA WR
51.88 RUPPRATH Thomas GER 24-05-02 WARENDORF ER
51.94 RUPPRATH,Thomas GER 03-08-02 BERLIN CR

1. RUPPRATH Thomas GER 77 0.75 24.22 51.94 NCR
2. SERDINOV Andriy UKR 82 0.87 24.37 52.17 n
3. SILANTIEV Denis UKR 76 0.78 24.28 52.36
4. MARTCHENKO Igor RUS 75 0.88 24.21 52.47
5. FROLANDER Lars SWE 74 0.76 24.56 52.59
6. ESPOSITO Franck FRA 71 0.69 24.68 52.83
7. KEIZER Joris NED 79 0.80 24.81 53.11
8. HARD Jere FIN 78 0.78 24.76 53.18

MEN'S 4x200m FREESTYLE RELAY
7:04.66 AUSTRALIA AUS 27-07-01 FUKUOKA WR
7:10.86 ITALIA ITA 27-07-01 FUKUOKA ER
7:13.10 FED. REP. OF GERMANY GER 19-08-87 STRASBOURG CR

1. ITALY
7:12.18 CR
PELLICIANI Matteo 79 25.53 25.53 52.65 52.65 1:20.41 1:20.41 1:48.39 1:48.39 0.87
BREMBILLA Emiliano 78 2:13.90 25.51 2:40.98 52.59 3:08.63 1:20.24 3:36.12 1:47.73 0.64
CAPPELLAZZO Federico 78 4:01.48 25.36 4:28.73 52.61 4:56.35 1:20.23 5:24.56 1:48.44 0.51
ROSOLINO M. 78 5:49.48 24.92 6:16.14 51.58 6:43.74 1:19.18 7:12.18 1:47.62 0.58

2. GERMANY
7:17.59
ZIMMER Moritz 80 25.50 25.50 53.26 53.26 1:21.94 1:21.94 1:51.25 1:51.25 0.81
POHL Stefan 78 2:15.95 24.70 2:43.13 51.88 3:11.10 1:19.85 3:40.42 1:49.17 0.22
CONRAD Lars 76 4:05.12 24.70 4:32.20 51.78 5:00.56 1:20.14 5:29.43 1:49.01 0.41
HERBST Stefan 78 5:53.92 24.49 6:21.26 51.83 6:49.41 1:19.98 7:17.59 1:48.16 0.44

3. GREECE n
7:20.67
OIKONOMOU Athanasios 78 26.10 26.10 53.81 53.81 1:21.55 1:21.55 1:49.50 1:49.50 0.85
XYLOURIS Nikolaos 82 2:14.34 24.84 2:41.85 52.35 3:10.17 1:20.67 3:39.32 1:49.82 0.17
KOKKODIS Ioannis 81 4:04.76 25.44 4:32.67 53.35 5:00.73 1:21.41 5:29.05 1:49.73 0.04
GIANNIOTIS Spyridon 80 5:54.39 25.34 6:22.43 53.38 6:51.17 1:22.12 7:20.67 1:51.62 0.53

4. ROMANIA
7:24.69
COMAN Dragos 80 25.71 25.71 52.94 52.94 1:21.57 1:21.57 1:50.85 1:50.85 0.90
BADITA Cezar 79 2:16.07 25.22 2:44.15 53.30 3:13.77 1:22.92 3:42.70 1:51.85 0.29
GHERGHEL Ioan 78 4:08.63 25.93 4:36.96 54.26 5:05.57 1:22.87 5:33.84 1:51.14 0.60
IVAN Nicolae 75 5:58.42 24.58 6:25.49 51.65 6:54.17 1:20.33 7:24.69 1:50.85 0.49

5. PORTUGAL
7:27.68 n
MONTEIRO Luis 83 25.85 25.85 54.16 54.16 1:23.09 1:23.09 1:52.07 1:52.07 0.82
LAURENTINO Nuno 75 2:16.72 24.65 2:44.25 52.18 3:13.80 1:21.73 3:43.49 1:51.42 0.22
COXO Ricardo 82 4:08.23 24.74 4:36.77 53.28 5:06.24 1:22.75 5:36.04 1:52.55 0.43
CARNEIRO Ivo 84 6:01.84 25.80 6:29.79 53.75 6:58.72 1:22.68 7:27.68 1:51.64 0.35

6. UKRAINE
7:32.89
SNITKO Igor 78 26.03 26.03 53.73 53.73 1:22.77 1:22.77 1:52.15 1:52.15 0.81
KOKOSHA Maksym 2:16.65 24.50 2:44.65 52.50 3:14.43 1:22.28 3:45.70 1:53.55 0.51
VEREITINOV Dmytro 83 4:10.99 25.29 4:39.29 53.59 5:09.25 1:23.55 5:39.63 1:53.93 0.55
FESENKO Sergiy 72 6:05.00 25.37 6:33.89 54.26 7:03.66 1:24.03 7:32.89 1:53.26 0.35

7. IRELAND
7:49.29 n
MANLEY Stephen 82 26.10 26.10 54.38 54.38 1:24.11 1:24.11 1:53.96 1:53.96 0.87
CAMERON Neil 80 2:20.29 26.33 2:49.61 55.65 3:20.27 1:26.31 3:50.63 1:56.67 0.47
CAREY William 75 4:17.72 27.09 4:48.24 57.61 5:20.42 1:29.79 5:53.32 2:02.69 0.41
O’NEILL Donald 80 6:19.87 26.55 6:48.92 55.60 7:19.23 1:25.91 7:49.29 1:55.97 0.39

SEMIFINALS RESULTS

WOMEN'S 50m BACKSTROKE
(Top 8 Qualify for finals)

28.25 VÖLKER Sandra GER 17−06−00 BERLIN WR
28.25 VÖLKER Sandra GER 17−06−00 BERLIN ER
28.71 VÖLKER/ZHIVANEVSKAIA 99 & 02 ISTANBUL/BERLIN CR

1. 28.71 ZHIVANEVSKAIA Nina ESP 77 2 4 0.70 Q CR
2. 28.82 VÖLKER Sandra GER 74 1 4 0.64 Q
3. 29.10 HERASIMENIA A. BLR 85 1 5 0.67 Q
4. 29.29 ORNSTEDT Louise DEN 85 2 7 0.68 Q
5. 29.34 CAPPA Alessandra ITA 82 2 5 0.70 q
6. 29.43 AMSHENNIKOVA Irina UKR 86 1 3 0.68 q
7. 29.50 PIETSCH Janine GER 82 2 3 0.72 q
8. 29.52 MOCANU Diana ROM 84 2 6 0.72 q
9. 29.56 SZEPESI Nikolett HUN 87 1 6 0.65
10. 29.75 VALEN Suze NED 78 1 2 0.71
11. 29.96 UDROIU Raluca ROM 82 1 7 0.73
12. 29.98 NADARAJAH Fabienne AUT 85 1 1 0.73
12. 29.98 GOSTOMELSKY Anna ISR 81 2 8 0.74
14. 29.99 MARACINEANU Roxana FRA 75 1 8 0.69
15. 30.04 DIEZI Dominique SUI 77 2 2 0.66
16. 30.29 KEJZAR Alenka SLO 79 2 1 0.71

WOMEN'S 50m FREESTYLE
(Top 8 qualify for finals)

24.13 DE BRUIJN Inge NED 22-09-00 SYDNEY WR
24.13 DE BRUIJN Inge NED 22-09-00 SYDNEY ER
24.44 ALSHAMMAR Therese SWE 09-07-00 HELSINKI CR

1. 25.26 ALSHAMMAR Therese SWE 77 2 4 0.81 Q
2. 25.33 MORAVCOVA Martina SVK 76 1 4 0.81 Q
3. 25.42 HERASIMENIA A. BLR 85 2 5 0.79 Q
4. 25.47 MEISSNER Kathrin GER 73 2 3 0.73 q
5. 25.67 KORC Agata POL 86 1 6 0.86 Q
5. 25.67 GROOT Chantal NED 79 2 7 0.83 q
7. 25.69 VAN RIJN Wilma NED 71 1 2 0.81 q
8. 25.70 MUKOMOL Olga UKR 79 2 6 0.85 q
9. 25.73 CHIUSO Cristina ITA 73 1 3 0.73
10. 25.75 DRAXLER Judith AUT 70 1 5 0.81
11. 25.77 SJOBERG Johanna SWE 78 2 2 0.82
12. 25.88 KOLUKANOVA Jana EST 81 1 1 0.92
13. 25.91 LANGE Ivana SVK 77 2 8 0.77
14. 26.03 SEPPALA Hanna−Maria FIN 84 1 7 0.78
15. 26.10 STEFFEN Britta GER 83 2 1 0.82
16. 26.38 CONSOLANDI Lara ITA 82 1 8 0.77

MEN'S 50m FREESTYLE
(Top 8 qualify for finals)

21.64 POPOV Alexander RUS 16-06-00 MOSCOW WR
21.64 POPOV Alexander RUS 16-06-00 MOSCOW ER
21.95 POPOV Alexander RUS 09-07-00 HELSINKI CR

1. 22.03 POPOV Alexander RUS 71 2 4 0.81 Q
2. 22.12 KIZIEROWSKI Bartosz POL 77 1 5 0.73 Q
3. 22.43 VAN DEN HOOGENBAND P. NED 78 1 4 0.78 Q
4. 22.45 VOLYNETS Oleksandr UKR 74 2 3 0.80 Q
5. 22.58 VISMARA Lorenzo ITA 75 1 3 0.89 q
6. 22.66 NYSTRAND Stefan SWE 81 2 5 0.80 q
7. 22.86 SCARICA Michele ITA 82 2 2 0.75 q
8. 22.90 MANKOC Peter SLO 78 1 1 0.77 q
9. 22.91 SILVA Pedro POR 77 1 6 0.76
10. 22.92 DREESEN Renaat BEL 80 2 6 0.81
11. 22.93 ZUBOR Attila HUN 75 2 8 0.81
12. 22.94 KUNZELMANN Stephan GER 79 2 7 0.78
13. 22.97 LAGOUN Pavel BLR 79 1 2 0.75
14. 23.07 THIELE Jens GER 80 1 8 0.75
15. 23.10 GIMBUTIS Rolandas LTU 81 1 7 0.88
16. 23.12 GASPAR Zsolt HUN 77 2 1 0.76

WOMEN'S 200m BUTTERFLY
(Top 8 qualify for finals)

2:05.81 O’NEILL Susan AUS 17-05-00 SYDNEY WR
2:06.97 MEHLHORN Annika GER 23-07-01 FUKUOKA ER
2:07.82 POLIT Cornelia GDR 27-08-83 ROME CR

1. 2:10.13 RISZTOV Eva HUN 85 29.87 2 4 1:36.74 1:03.11 0.90 Q
2. 2:10.51 MEHLHORN Annika GER 83 28.72 1 4 1:35.34 1:01.26 0.83 Q
3. 2:10.71 JEDREJCZAK Otylia POL 83 29.83 2 5 1:36.58 1:03.15 0.92 Q
4. 2:11.25 GARCIA Mireia ESP 81 30.06 1 5 1:36.71 1:02.89 0.84 Q
5. 2:11.45 JACOBSEN Mette DEN 73 30.02 2 3 1:37.37 1:03.50 0.87 q
6. 2:11.91 VIVES Roser ESP 84 30.23 1 3 1:37.67 1:03.70 1.06 q
7. 2:12.22 SEGAT Francesca ITA 83 30.22 1 6 1:38.01 1:04.19 0.82 q
8. 2:12.77 OLIVEIRA Sara POR 85 30.27 1 1 1:37.95 1:03.79 0.85 q
9. 2:12.79 VINOGRADOVA Ekaterina RUS 80 30.19 2 2 1:38.09 1:04.13 0.82
10. 2:13.00 ZAHRL Petra AUT 81 29.97 2 8 1:38.03 1:03.95 0.84
11. 2:13.62 FELGUEIRA Raquel POR 80 30.27 2 6 1:38.17 1:03.85 0.89
12. 2:14.99 KUBALCIKOVA Marcela CZE 73 30.33 1 7 1:39.59 1:04.84 0.91
13. 2:15.15 SKOU Sophia DEN 75 30.57 1 2 1:38.96 1:04.40 0.92
14. 2:15.63 SOUTIAGUINA Natalia RUS 80 30.32 2 7 1:39.16 1:04.06 0.95
15. 2:15.77 BOSEVSKA Mirjana MKD 81 30.57 2 1 1:40.03 1:05.10 0.79
16. 2:16.86 MELACHROINOU Zampia GRE 79 30.91 1 8 1:40.83 1:05.48 0.82

WR: World Record
ER: European Record
CR: Championship Record
n: National Record
=n: Equals National Record
+: Second-fastest swim all-time

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