2018 European Championships Day 7: David Verraszto, Ajna Kesely Take Top Seeds

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Day 7 of the European Championships kicked off with Thursday’s preliminary session in Glasgow, Scotland.

Only two individual events were contested this morning: the men’s 400 IM and the women’s 400 Freestyle. They were followed by preliminary heats of the 4 x 100 Medley Relay for both genders where Russia (3:33.08) and Denmark (3:58.40) took the top seeds.

RESULTS

Men’s 400 IM

Hungary’s David Verraszto cruised to the top seed in this morning’s prelims of the men’s 400 IM in 4:14.18. A smooth middle 200 for the defending Champion and World Championship silver medalist in this event implies that he’ll post a bigger swim in the finals. He currently holds the fifth-fastest time in the world this year at 4:11.98.

Verraszto was followed by Great Britain’s Max Litchfield in one of his first 400 IMs since a shoulder injury in February. The swim was therefore a season-best 4:14.91. Over two seconds off his best, the race still puts him in the top twenty world rankings for this year.

Azerbaijan’s Maksym Shemberev and Portugal’s Joao Alexandre Vital earned the third and fourth seeds out of heat two in 4:15.33 and 4:15.87, respectively. Shemberev’s 1:09.33 breaststroke split out-paced the field – this leg of the race should help him fight for a medal in tonight’s final.

Joining the men in the final are Germany’s Johannes Hintze (4:16.18), Spain’s Joan Lluis Pons Ramon (4:17.01), Russia’s Maxim Stupin (4:17.60) and Germany’s Jacob Heidtmann (4:17.77).

SUMMARY

RANK

HEAT

LANE

NAT

SURNAME AND NAME

BORN

R.T.

TIME

GAP

HUN

VERRASZTO David

22 AUG 1988

0.76

4:14.18

GBR

LITCHFIELD Max

04 MAR 1995

0.65

4:14.91

0.73

AZE

SHEMBEREV Maksym

25 SEP 1993

0.80

4:15.33

1.15

POR

VITAL Joao Alexandre

13 JUN 1998

0.67

4:15.87

1.69

GER

HINTZE Johannes

05 JUL 1999

0.72

4:16.18

2.00

ESP

PONS RAMON Joan Lluis

09 DEC 1996

0.64

4:17.01

2.83

RUS

STUPIN Maxim

11 MAY 2000

0.69

4:17.60

3.42

GER

HEIDTMANN Jacob

06 NOV 1994

0.76

4:17.77

3.59

Women’s 400 Freestyle

Hungarian teenager and European Junior Record-Holder in this event Ajna Kesely dominated the third preliminary heat this morning to earn the top seed headed into tonight’s finals. Her opening speed set her apart from the field, out-splitting the competition by about one and a half seconds at the 200. She should have much more left in the tank to chase her best this season of 4:05.61 from the Hungarian Championships.

Great Britain’s Holly Hibbott (4:09.41), Germany’s Sarah Koehler (4:09.85) and Italy’s Simona Quadarella (4:09.97) went stroke-for-stroke in heat four to post the second, third and fourth fastest times. The women swam nearly identical races which is not surprising as they have all posted around the same time so far this season: 4:05.31, 4:05.68 and 4:05.74, respectively. These four will battle for all three medals in the final.

Russia’s Anna Egorova (4:10.77), Liechtenstein’s Julia Hassler (4:12.03), Portugal’s Diana Margarida Duraes (4:12.16) and Great Britain’s Eleanor Faulkner (4:12.85) will round out the final.

SUMMARY

RANK

HEAT

LANE

NAT

SURNAME AND NAME

BORN

R.T.

TIME

GAP

HUN

KESELY Ajna

10 SEP 2001

0.72

4:08.77

GBR

HIBBOTT Holly

13 DEC 1999

0.78

4:09.41

0.64

GER

KOEHLER Sarah

20 JUN 1994

0.75

4:09.85

1.08

ITA

QUADARELLA Simona

18 DEC 1998

0.77

4:09.97

1.20

RUS

EGOROVA Anna

31 MAY 1998

0.77

4:10.77

2.00

LIE

HASSLER Julia

27 FEB 1993

0.81

4:12.03

3.26

POR

DURAES Diana Margarida

08 JUN 1996

0.71

4:12.16

3.39

GBR

FAULKNER Eleanor

05 JAN 1993

0.74

4:12.85

4.08

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