European Championships – Day Two Semifinals: After Equipment Failure, Yohann Ndoye Brouard Successfully Negotiates Re-Swim

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European Championships – Day Two Semifinals: After Equipment Failure, Yohann Ndoye Brouard Successfully Negotiates Re-Swim

The Foro Italico in Rome was buzzing during the second day of preliminaries at the European Championships, headlined by Romanian star David Popovici putting on a speed display in the 100-meter freestyle. More, the Italian women were dominant in the 100 breaststroke, occupying the top-four positions in prelims. However, due to the competition rule that a country can only advance two athletes beyond heats, half of that quartet was sent to the deck.

As the seven-day meet in the Italian capital continues to unfold, here is a look at what transpired during semifinal action.

Note: With Popovici chasing the world record in the 100 freestyle, the semifinal of that event will be covered separately.

Women’s 100 Breaststroke

An intriguing final has developed in the final of the 100 breaststroke, with Italian Benedetta Pilato and Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte leading the qualifiers into the race for the medals. Pilato, best known for her 50 breaststroke speed, won the second semifinal in 1:06.16 while Meilutyte, 2012 Olympic champion who is on the comeback trail, topped the field in the first semifinal behind an effort of 1:06.41.

Ireland’s Mona McSharry has positioned herself for a podium chase, as she checked in with the third-fastest swim of the semifinals. McSharry registered a mark of 1:06.44, which placed her ahead of Lithuania’s Kotryna Teterevkova (1:06.67) and reigning champion Sophie Hansson (1:06.83) of Sweden.

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Women’s 50 Butterfly

Chasing her fifth European championship in the event, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom affirmed herself as the overwhelming favorite when she produced a 25.10 outing in her semifinal. That performance from Sjostrom, who is focusing on the sprint events this week, was comfortably ahead of the 25.63 by France’s Marie Wattel for the second seed. Also dipping under the 26-second barrier were Sweden’s Louise Hansson (25.91) and the Netherlands’ Maaike de Waard (25.97).

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Men’s 200 Backstroke

Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov controlled the semifinals of the 200 backstroke, as he spanned his four laps in 1:56.22. However, the biggest noise in the event came from the action surrounding France’s Yohann Ndoye Brouard. During his initial semifinal, the starting equipment (ledge) broke and required a re-swim, which took place after the conclusion of the medals ceremonies.

Ndoye Brouard took advantage of his re-swim, as he posted a time of 1:56.39. That mark is good for the second seed in the final, which will take place on Saturday night.

Great Britain’s Luke Greenbank, who won silver in the event at the World Championships earlier this summer, moved on in the third position behind a performance of 1:57.07. The fourth slot was occupied by Italy’s Lorenzo Mora, who continued his country’s momentum with a 1:57.62 showing.

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