Gyurta Wins 200 Breast as Mare Nostrum Series Begins

MONTE CARLO, Monaco, June 4. THE first day of the Mare Nostrum Series stop in Monte Carlo was dominated on Saturday by several Hungarian standouts, including Dani Gyurta and Laszlo Cseh. Although he’s been relatively quiet since winning the silver medal in the 200 breaststroke at the Athens Olympics, Gyurta apparently hasn’t lost his touch. The teenager took first place in his pet event, clocking a time of 2:14.07.

Meanwhile, Cseh delivered a sterling performance in the 200 individual medley. The reigning world champion in the 400 I.M., Cseh won the shorter distance in a stellar mark of 1:59.31. Cseh is widely considered the man capable of pushing Michael Phelps in the medley disciplines. On the women’s side, the Hungarian duo of Katinka Hosszu (4:44.03) and Zsuzsanna Jakobas (4:44.41) finished first and second in the 400 I.M.

The Australian contingent, not surprisingly, supplied a number of high-quality efforts, highlighted by Leisel Jones in the 100 breaststroke. The world-record holder in the event, Jones touched the wall in 1:07.16, quite fast for an athlete in heavy training. She was joined as an Aussie victor by Linda Mackenzie in the 200 freestyle (2:01.03) and Libby Lenton in the 100 butterfly (58.44). For the men, Eamon Sullivan prevailed in the 100 freestyle as his 49.50 was swifter than the 49.89 of Sweden’s Stefan Nystrand.

In other action, Auburn product Margaret Hoelzer, one of only a handful of American swimmers competing, was first to the wall in the 200 backstroke (2:13.15). In the men’s 100 back, Greece’s Aristeidis Grigoriadis bested the competition when his 55.63 performance placed ahead of American Peter Marshall (56.06). Romania’s Dragos Coman won the 400 freestyle in 3:51.00.

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