European Championships, Day Three Semifinals: Sara Curtis Pops WR; Men’s 100 Fly Showdown Set
It will be another fast-paced session on Night Three of the European Championships in Paris, as four semifinals will complement seven finals. The semifinals of the women’s 200-meter freestyle will open the action, with the Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen as the headliner. Steenbergen was sensational on Night Two, where she won gold in the 100 freestyle and anchored the Dutch to a silver medal in the mixed 400 medley relay.
Semifinals will also be conducted in the men’s 200 breaststroke, women’s 50 backstroke and men’s 100 butterfly. That men’s 100 fly is loaded with big names, including Switzerland’s Noe Ponti, who went 50.47 in prelims to secure the top seed for the semifinals. He will be joined in the battle for a finals slot by the likes of France’s Maxime Grousset and the Hungarian duo of Kristof Milak and Hubert Kos.
In the women’s 50 backstroke, Italian Sara Curtis and France’s Mary-Ambre Moluh are the top seeds, followed by Steenbergen in the No. 3 position. As for the men’s 200 breaststroke, Russia’s Kirill Prigoda was quickest in the morning, going 2:09.33, just .14 ahead of Great Britain’s Filip Nowacki.
Here is an event-by-event recap of the Night Three semifinals:
Women’s 200 Freestyle
Czechia’s Barbora Seemanova will lead the field into the final of the 200 freestyle after notching the lone sub-1:56 performance in the semifinals. Seemanova won the second semifinal in 1:55.77, which placed her ahead of Great Britain’s Freya Colbert (1:56.28) and the Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen (1:56.35). Steenbergen is coming off a Day Two victory in the 100 freestyle, where she went 51.90 and broke the 52-second barrier for the fifth time this year.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Rising British star Filip Nowacki will chase the first international senior title of his career when he leads the 200 breaststroke field into the final on Thursday night. Nowacki covered his semifinal in 2:08.60, placing him just ahead of Austria’s Luka Mladenovic, who went 2:08.85 for the second seed. The world-record holder in the short-course version of the 200 breaststroke, the Netherlands’ Caspar Corbeau was third in 2:09.00.
Women’s 50 Backstroke
One day after Hubert Kos scared the world record in the semifinals of the 200 backstroke, Italy’s Sara Curtis used the semifinals to take down a global standard. A star for the University of Virginia, Curtis went 26.63 to shave .23 off the prior world record, a 26.86 by Kaylee McKeown in 2023. Curtis was superb from the start and as she neared the wall, there was no doubt the first world record of her career was within her grasp. (Reed More Here!).
Russia’s Alina Gaifutdinova was second, thanks to the No. 3 performance of all-time, a 26.91. Meanwhile, France’s Mary-Ambre Moluh qualified third for the final in 27.25.
Men’s 100 Butterfly
The final of the 100 butterfly will be a battle of powerhouses, with Switzerland’s Noe Ponti occupying Lane Four after a semifinal mark of 50.21. Ponti will have his hands full in the battle for medals as Kristof Milak, Maxime Grousset and Hubert Kos finished second through fourth. MIlak, who was bronze in the 100 freestyle earlier in the session, is a three-time Euro champion in the event and went 50.50 to place himself in the middle of the pool. Grousset followed in 50.78 while Kos, after a 200 back title triumph, went 51.05.
