Flanders Swimming Cup: Jeanette Ottesen Doubles; Lotte Friis, Laszlo Cseh, Daniel Gyurta Begin Olympic Year on Top

By David Rieder

ANTWERP, Belgium, January 14. THE Flanders Swimming Cup kicked off in Antwerp with the first of two days of long course meters finals. Several top European swimmers kicked off their Olympic seasons with wins and some impressive standards as the 2012 world rankings begin to take shape.

Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen impressed with wins in both the 100 fly and 50 free. Ottesen took the 100 fly in 58.47, coming up short of the top two times in the world posted on Friday at the Austin Grand Prix. World champion Dana Vollmer won that race in 58.02, while Jemma Lowe finished second in 58.12. Belgium's Kimberly Buys took second in Antwerp in 59.70, and Great Britain's Jessica Sylvester took third in 1:00.45. Ottesen doubled up with the 50 free win in 24.91, the first swim under 25 this year. Belgium's Joline Sysman took second in 25.58, and Denmark's Pernille Blume finished third in 25.83.

Denmark's Lotte Friis won the women's 800 free in 8:27.93. This is Friis' first swim since nearly eclipsing the world record in the 800 at the Duel in the Pool in Atlanta. Great Britain's Eleanor Faulker came in second at 8:29.70, and Ireland's Graine Murphy picked up third in 8:33.03.

Hungary's Laszlo Cseh took the men's 200 IM in 2:01.68. Cseh won silver in this event in the Beijing Olympics and took bronze at the 2011 World Championships. Great Britain's Ieuan Lloyd took second in 2:02.64, and countryman Xavier Mohammed picked up third in 2:03.00. Cseh also swam the 200 fly, putting on a strong back half burst but ultimately finishing second in 1:58.37. Michael Rock won in 1:58.16, and Ego Van Der Straeten took third in 1:58.91.

Hungary's Daniel Gyurta picked up the win in the men's 200 breast in 2:11.79. However, the two-time world champion swam more than a second slower than the 2:10.72 that Eric Shanteau posted on Friday in Austin. Luxembourg's Laurent Carnol ended up second in 2:14.94, and Great Britain's Russel Smith came in third at 2:15.80.

The Netherland's Sebastaan Verschuren won the men's 100 free in 49.28. Belgium went 2-3, as Pieter Timmers came in second at 49.52, and Dieter Dekoninck grabbed third in 49.68. Belgium's Francois Heersbrandt earned the win in the 50 fly in 24.02, while Cseh took second in 24.20, just beating the Netherland's Joeri Verlinden, who came in at 24.23. Great Britain's Daniel Sliwinski touched first in the men's 50 breast in 28.06, just beating out the Netherlands' Lennart Steklenburg. Stecklenburg came in second at 28.19, and Carnol grabbed third in 28.59.

Great Britain's Georgia Hohmann won the women's 200 back in 2:09.71, while Buys touched out Great Britain's Lauren Quigley for second, 2:14.32 to 2:14.51. Denmark's Rikke Mohler Pederson won the 100 breast in 1:08.41, while the Netherland's Moniek Nihuis touched out Sweden's Joline Hoestman for second, 1:09.11 to 1:09.13. Great Britain's Sophie Smith beat teammate Faulker for the win in the women's 200 free, 2:01.99 to 2:02.36. The Netherlands' Rieneke Terink grabbed third in 2:02.93.

Germany won the women's 400 free relay in 3:53.51, while Hungary's Kobanya team took the men's relay in 3:46.42.

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