PORTO, Portugal, February 6. THE first day of long course meter action at the Povoa de Varzim meet held in Portugal featured plenty of meet records for the crowd on hand.<\/p>\n
Spain's Mercedes Peris Minguet dominated the women's 100 back with a meet-record time of 1:03.05. She beat the 2009 mark of 1:03.59 set by Stefania Cartapani. Cartapani settled for second in 1:04.21, while Marta Vieira Marinho placed third in 1:04.97.<\/p>\n
Giulia Bolgiani picked up a meet record in the women's 400 free with a 4:19.16. She clipped the listed meet record of 4:19.89 as set by the organizers. Joana Aguiar Rodrigues (4:27.07) and Efrat Rotztejn (4:28.33) completed the top three.<\/p>\n
Amit Ivry set the meet record in the women's 50 fly as part of a double. She clocked a 26.97 to lower her previous mark of 27.07 from last year. Sara Freitas Oliveira took second in 28.07 with Sara Francisco Cruz finishing third in 28.84.<\/p>\n
Israel opened the day earlier going 1-2 in the women's 100 free when Ivry (57.72) and Martina Marks (58.44) completed the top-two sweep. Clauida Sofia Monteiro placed third in 58.69. Adriano Miguel Niz followed in the men's 200 free with a winning time of 1:54.02. Luca Lavezzari took second in 1:55.16, while Miguel Silva Oliveira wound up third in 1:55.37. <\/p>\n
Yakov-Yan Zurablov smashed the meet record in the men's 200 back with a 2:00.71. That performance crushed the 2:02.20 set by Mirco Di Tora last year. David Gamburg took second in 2:05.09, while Adriano Miguel Niz finished third in 2:06.03. <\/p>\n
Susanna Negri clocked a meet record in the women's 400 IM with a 4:52.87. That performance wiped out the listed time of 4:55.58 set by the meet management. Nadia Morais Vieira finished second in 4:57.25, while Ludovica Leoni placed third in 5:01.77.<\/p>\n
Yuliya Banach captured the sprint event in 33.10, while Anastasia Korotkov placed second in 33.66, to give Israel a 1-2 finish in the women's 50 breast. Isabel Maria Figueira grabbed third in 33.67. Banach doubled up with a 2:33.43 in the women's 200 breast. Pamela Gabrieli finished second in 2:36.04, while Ana Pinho Rodrigues took third in 2:38.72.<\/p>\n
Kevin Swander of the U.S. cruised in the men's 100 breast with a winning time of 1:03.17. Davide Cova gave him a bit of a challenge in the initial 50 meters, but wound up falling back to second in 1:03.76. Ricardo Jose Varela earned third in 1:06.70.<\/p>\n
Israel's Jonatan Josef Kopelev upset Ben Hesen of the U.S., 26.26 to 26.48, in the men's 50 back. Niz claimed third overall in 27.23. Giacomo Gremizzi crushed the men's 200 IM field with a 2:04.54. Alexis Manacas Santos took a distant second in 2:10.02, while Rui Filipe Vilar wound up third in 2:10.74.<\/p>\n
Oliveira eased through the women's 200 fly in 2:15.03, winning by more than three seconds. Susana Negri took second in 2:18.32, while Ana Catarina Monteiro finished third in 2:18.73. Rudy Goldin captured the men's 100 fly title in 55.90, while Fabio Manuel Pereira placed second in 56.87. Matteo Salomoni (56.90) and Kopelev (57.32) finished third and fourth.<\/p>\n
Paulo Jorge Santos won the men's 50 free in 23.36, while Joao Filipe Carvalho and Matteo Salomoni tied for second with matching 23.96s. In distance action, Marco Rivera Miranda captured the men's 1500 free in 15:39.35. Matteo Montanari finished second in 16:06.70, while Costa placed third in 16:19.66.<\/p>\n
In relay action, Doron Osher Levy, Ivry, Banach and Noa Ruth Feldman won the women's 400 medley relay in 4:16.55 for Israel. Israel also won the men's 400 free relay when Kopelev, Gamburg, Taj Hanani and Zurablov completed the race in 3:30.94. <\/p>\n