European Championships – Day Five Semifinals: Sarah Sjostrom Zooms to Top Seed in 50 Freestyle

SJOSTROM Sarah SWE 100m Freestyle Women Heats Swimming FINA 19th World Championships Budapest 2022 Budapest, Duna Arena 22/06/22 Photo Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

European Championships – Day Five Semifinals: Sarah Sjostrom Zooms to Top Seed in 50 Freestyle

Semifinal action from the fifth evening session of the European Championships in Rome will be headlined by the tandem of Hungary’s Kristof Milak and Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom. Milak and Sjostrom will contest the 200-meter butterfly and 50 freestyle, respectively, and they are events in which they hold world records. Milak has already won gold during the meet in the 100 butterfly while Sjostrom prevailed in the 50 butterfly.

The first semifinal on the schedule is the women’s 100 backstroke, which will be followed in succession by the men’s 50 breaststroke, women’s 50 freestyle, men’s 200 butterfly and the women’s 200 individual medley.

Here is an event-by-event recap of the semifinal events from Monday night at the Foro Italico.

Women’s 100 Backstroke

Looking for a double in the backstroke events, Italy’s Margherita Panziera led the way into the final of the 100 backstroke behind a time of 59.72. The champion earlier in the meet in the 200 backstroke, Panziera qualified just ahead of France’s Pauline Mahieu, who checked in at 59.75. The third-fastest time, and last under one minute, was notched by the Netherlands’ Maaike de Waard (59.89).

Photo Courtesy:

Men’s 50 Breaststroke

Already the champion in the 100 breaststroke, Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi is closing in on a gold medal in the 50 breast. Martinenghi covered his lap in 26.64, and was joined under 27 seconds by his countryman, Simone Cerasuolo (26.86). Grabbing the third seed for the final was Lucas Matzerath of Germany, who clocked a mark of 27.16.

Photo Courtesy:

Women’s 50 Freestyle

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, the world-record holder and reigning world champ, locked up the top seed for the final after cruising to a time of 24.27. That effort was slightly quicker than the 24.36 produced by Poland’s Kasia Wasick, who was the runnerup to Sjostrom at Worlds. Also moving into the final was Italian Silvia Di Pietro, who posted a swim of 24.72.

Photo Courtesy:

Men’s 200 Butterfly

World-record holder and Olympic champion Kristof Milak easily paced qualifying, as he covered four laps in 1:53.97 to best the field by more than a second. A lock to claim the gold medal, the only question surrounding Milak is whether he can get close to his world record of 1:50.34, which he set earlier this summer at the World Championships.

Italian Alberto Razzetti advanced in the No. 2 slot, thanks to a time of 1:55.18, and was followed as the third seed by Switzerland’s Noe Ponti, who recorded a swim of 1:55.28.

Photo Courtesy:

Women’s 200 Individual Medley

With 97 career medals in international competition, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu will continue her chase for the century mark in the final of the 200 I.M. Hosszu won the second semifinal in 2:12.52, which was good for the third seed in the final. Lane Four in the final will be occupied by Great Britain’s Katie Shanahan, who logged a mark of 2:11.84. In the No. 2 position was the Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen, who has already won the 100 freestyle and 400 freestyle. Steenbergen touched the wall in 2:12.31.

Photo Courtesy:

Meet Page

Meet Results

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