Streamlined News

PHOENIX, Arizona, December 8. THE European championships began today in Szczecin, Poland, and some of the continent’s heavy hitters were the highlight of the first day of competition.

Mireia Belmonte Garcia won two tough races today, finishing first in the 200 IM and 200 butterfly. Her 200 IM is second fastest in the world, while her 200 fly time of 2:03.37 barely took over the top spot in the global rankings.

Paul Biedermann won the 400 free in 3:38.65, the fastest time in the world this year. The field was fairly tight through 300 meters, when Biedermann and Mads Glaesner of Denmark broke away to post the only sub-3:40 swims of the year.
Laszo Cseh and Markus Rogan battled through the entire 200 IM, and it was Cseh who got to the wall first in 1:53.43 to Rogan’s 1:53.63. Cseh and Rogan are just a few of the swimmers looking to grab that open bronze medal in this event at next year’s Olympics.

And a couple of breaststrokers from Berkeley will be competing in the 100 breast final tomorrow. Damir Dugonjc and Martti Aljand placed second and fourth in the semifinals, with world champion Alexander Dale Oen seeded fifth and world championships silver medalist Fabio Scozzoli qualifying first.

The host country got two gold medals today. Radoslaw Kawecki won the men’s 200 back in 1:49.15, which bumps Michael Phelps out of the top spot in the global rankings, and is the only swim under 1:50 in 2011. And Konrad Czerniak won the men’s 50 free in 20.88, which is also the fastest time in the world and one of only two swims under 21 seconds in the race. The silver medal went to Sergey Fesikov of Russia with a 20.92.

Also beginning today is the USA Swimming junior national championships in Austin, Texas. This meet will be conducted in short course yards, and we’ll see some bright young talent swimming this weekend. Jacob Pebley, who broke through last week at the senior nationals with a second place finish in the 200 backstroke, will be swimming that event this weekend along with a few others. Ryan Murphy, Pebley’s longtime competitor in the backstrokes at the junior level, will be one to watch as well. On the women’s side, be sure to look out for Haley Lips in the freestyle events and Courtney Bartholomew in the backstrokes.

Rebecca Adlington was named the British Sportswoman of the Year by the country’s sportswriters. Adlington won the 800 free at the world championships and was second in the 400 free. The accolade might take some of the sting out of not being nominated for Sports Personality of the Year by the British Broadcasting Company. You might remember that the BBC is taking flak for that honor because no women are nominated this year.

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