European Short Course Championships, Day Five Finals: Marrit Steenbergen Just Misses World Record in 200 IM
There are five finals on the schedule for the fifth night of racing at the European Short Course Championships in Lublin, Poland. Dutchwoman Marritt Steenbergen, who earlier in the meet set continental records in the 100-meter individual medley and 200 freestyle, will be back in action for the final of the 200 individual medley. Steenbergen is the fourth seed in the final, with Great Britain’s Freya Colbert and Katie Shanahan occupying the middle lanes.
Coming off a world junior record during the prelims of the 800 freestyle, Germany’s Johannes Liebmann will try to secure the gold medal in the final of the distance event. That task will be a difficult one, however, as Hunagry’s Zalan Sarkany and Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen are in the field. Wiffen is the world-record holder in the 800 freestyle.
Here is an event-by-event recap of the Day Five action:
- Link to Eurovision/Live Coverage
- Results
- Entry Lists
- Day 1 Prelims Recap: Women
- Day 1 Prelims Recap: Men
- Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap
- Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Recap
- Day 3 Finals Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Recap
- Day 4 Finals Recap
- Day 5 Prelims Recap
Women’s 50 Freestyle (Semifinals)
Poland’s Kasia Wasick and Italian Sara Curtis have each contributed impressive 50 freestyle anchor legs during the European Championships, and now they’ll duel in the final of the 50 free. Wasick grabbed the top seed for the final, as her mark of 23.30 was quicker than the 23.49 of Curtis. They were followed in the third position by France’s Beryl Gastaldello, who was timed in 23.67.
Men’s 50 Freestyle (Semifinals)
Frenchman Maxime Grousset established himself as the favorite for the gold medal, albeit slightly, by booking Lane Four for the final of the 50 freestyle. Grousset, who was the bronze medalist in the 50 butterfly earlier in the meet, delivered a time of 20.83 to narrowly edge Italian Leonardo Deplano (20.85) and Croatian Jere Hribar (20.89).
Women’s 200 Individual Medley (Final)
For the third time during the competition, the Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen broke a European record, this time in the 200 individual medley. Steenbergen blew away the competition, prevailing with a time of 2:01.83. The effort was not far off Kate Douglass’ world record of 2:01.63 and bettered the European standard, which had stood to Katinka Hosszu at 2:01.86 since 2014.
Steenbergen surged into the lead on the opening butterfly leg and was never challenged, as she backed up previous European records in the 100 IM and 200 freestyle. She was followed for the silver medal by Ireland’s Ellen Walshe (2:04.78) while Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko took the bronze medal in 2:05.32.
Men’s 200 Individual Medley (Final)
Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez had too much for the opposition as he captured a gold medal in the 200 medley, a title that complemented his victory in the event at the 2020 edition of the long-course European Champs. Gonzalez covered the event in 1:51.39, which was comfortably ahead of the 1:52.05 by Italy’s Alberto Razzetti. The bronze medal went to Turkey’s Berke Saka in 1:52.25.
Men’s 800 Freestyle (Final)
Hungarian Zalan Sarkany had the lead for 775 meters, trailing after only the first length, on the way to the European title in the 800 freestyle. Sarkany turned in a performance of 7:26.84 to defeat Belgium’s Lucas Henveaux, who rallied over the final laps to grab the silver medal in 7:28.03. Henveaux passed Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen in the latter stages of the race, with Wiffen taking the bronze medal in 7:30.14.
Germany’s Johannes Liebmann, who set a world junior record in the prelims, lowered that standard even further in the final. En route to fourth place, Liebmann finished in 7:30.47, which cut .47 off his day-old record.
Women’s 200 Butterfly (Semifinals)
Denmark’s Helena Bach will race out of Lane Four in the final of the 200 butterfly, thanks to a prelims mark of 2:04.37. Bach earned the No. 1 seed for Sunday night by .31, the margin to Finland’s Laura Lahtinen (2:04.68). Great Britain’s Emily Richards (2:05.16) and Ireland’s Ellen Walshe (2:05.60) moved on as the third and fourth seeds, Walshe not long after winning silver in the 200 IM.
Men’s 200 Butterfly (Semifinals)
Switzerland’s Noe Ponti will seek his third medal in as many butterfly events when the final of the 200 fly is held. Ponti already won gold in the distance and silver in the 100 distance. The Swiss star earned the top seed for the 200 fly when he raced to a mark of 1:51.53 in the semifinals. Tying for the second spot were Polish twins Michal Chmielewski and Krzysztof Chmielewski, who had matching swims of 1:51.66. Italian Alberto Razzetti is lurking in fourth after a time of 1:51.99.
Women’s 50 Backstroke (Semifinals)
Great Britain’s Lauren Cox secured the top seed for the championship heat of the 50 backstroke. Cox raced to a time of 26.17 in the semifinals, which was .06 faster than the 26.23 of Dutchwoman Maaike de Waard. Italian Sara Curtis qualified for her second final in the session, going 26.25 for third. Curtis earlier grabbed the No. 2 seed for the final of the 50 freestyle.
Men’s 50 Backstroke (Semifinals)
Estonia’s Ralf Tribuntsov will be the No. 1 seed in the final of the 50 backstroke following a 22.63 performance in the semifinals. Tribuntsov finished ahead of Italian Francesco Lazzari, who was second-fastest in the morning behind a time of 22.79. Next was the Czech Republic’s Miroslav Knedla, who touched the wall in 22.87.
Women’s 50 Breaststroke (Semifinals)
Men’s 50 Breaststroke (Semifinals)
Women’s 100 Freestyle (Final)
Men’s 100 Freestyle (Final)