Manaudou Wins Twice on Second Day of European Short Course Championships

HELSINKI, Finland, December 8. UNLIKE the first day of the meet, the second evening session of the European Championships did not feature any continental-record breaking performances. Nonetheless, there were several strong showings and interesting storylines, most notably a setback for Hungary's Laszlo Cseh in the 400 individual medley. Here's an event-by-event breakdown of the second day of action.

Women's 800 Freestyle Final

Frenchwoman Lauren Manaudou started her busy night with the first of two wins. Racing the 800 free, an event in which she owns the world record, Manaudou covered the distance in 8:12.24, off of her global standard of 8:11.25, but significantly faster than the silver-medal effort of Russia's Anastasia Ivanenko (8:18.09). Spain's Erika Villaecija was third in 8:20.09.

Men's 400 Individual Medley Final

One night after winning the 200 I.M., Hungary's Laszlo Cseh, the world-record holder, was knocked off his perch by Italy's Luca Marin. The Italian was well behind Cseh at the 100-meter mark and midpoint, but chewed up ground during the breaststroke leg and soared ahead during the final laps of freestyle. Marin was timed in 4:01.71 with Cseh behind in 4:03.39. Greece's Ionnis Drymonakos earned bronze in 4:05.94.

Women's 200 Breaststroke Final

Compared to Australia's Leisel Jones, who has changed the dynamic of the female breaststroke, the winning time was hardly eye-catching. But, Great Britain's Kirsty Balfour was sure to be pleased with her winning swim of 2:21.82. Germany's Anne Poleska was second in 2:23.12 and Poland's Beata Kaminska won bronze in 2:24.87.

Men's 100 Breaststroke Final

The European-record holder and short-course whiz, the Ukraine's Oleg Lisogor led a one-two sweep for his country as he won the 100 breast in 58.14. His countryman, Valeriy Dymo, was the silver medalist in 58.64 and bronze went to Norway's Alexander Dale in 58.70.

Women's 100 Freestyle Final

The top qualifier coming out of the semifinals, the Netherlands' Marleen Veldhuis set a meet record in the four-lap freestyle by covering the distance in 52.41, a half-second ahead of France's Alena Popchanka (52.91). Veldhuis had a commanding lead at the midpoint, thanks to a split of 24.98. The bronze medal was collected by Sweden's Josefin Lillhage in 53.09.

Men's 100 Freestyle Semifinals

Although Sweden's Stefan Nystrand posted the fastest qualifying effort for the championship heat, a swim of 47.11, Italy's Filippo Magnini must remain the favorite for the gold medal. Magnini was second in the semifinals in 47.62 and was followed in third by France's Fabien Gilot (47.66).

Women's 100 Backstroke Final

France's Laure Manaudou snared her second gold medal of the evening by blasting the field in the 100 backstroke. Manaudou slightly trailed Germany's Antje Buschschulte at the midpoint, but powered home to win in 57.87. Buschschulte was the silver-medal winner in 58.20 and the Ukraine's Iryna Amshennikova took bronze in 59.03.

Men's 100 Butterfly Final

Serbia's Milorad Cavic, the former world-record holder and current Euro-record holder, went wire-to-wire for a victory in 50.63. Cavic went out in 23.15 and held off a challenge by Slovenia's Peter Mankoc down the stretch. Mankoc was clocked in 50.78 and Russia's Nikolay Skvortsov was the bronze medalist with an outing of 51.17.

Women's 100 Individual Medley

Heading into the championship race, Finland's Hanna-Maria Seppala has been fastest behind a semifinal performance of 1:00.98. Poland's Aleksandra Urbanczyk was second-quickest in qualifying with a 1:01.07 and Belarus' Svitlana Khakhlova was third in 1:01.20.

Women's 50 Butterfly Final

A longtime international standout, Sweden's Therese Alshammar scared the European record in the 50 fly with a mark of 25.36. Although Alshammar missed the continental record of 25.33, she established a meet record and had no trouble bettering the 25.65 turned in by the Netherlands' Inge Dekker. World-record holder Anna-Karin Kammerling won bronze in 25.92.

Men's 50 Backstroke Final

The German tandem of Helge Meeuw and Thomas Rupprath occupied the first two positions. Meeuw registered a time of 23.70 for the gold medal while Rupprath, always a force in the 50-meter strokes, took silver in 23.92. Slovakia's Lubos Krizko was third place in 24.19.

Women's 200 Freestyle Relay Final

The Swedish quartet of Magdalena Kuras, Therese Alshammar, Anna-Karin Kammerling and Josefin Lillhage produced a swim of 1:36.61 to dispatch the Netherlands, which was clocked in 1:37.27. Lillhage anchored Sweden home in 23.62. Germany won the bronze medal in 1:38.50.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use