2015 European Games: Chupkov, Steenbergen Scare Jr World Records

2015 European Games

• Tuesday, June 23 – Saturday, June 27, 2015
• Baku Aquatic Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan
• Prelims: 12:30 am EST; Finals: 8:30 am EST
• Meet Preview
• Start lists, timeline and results can be found here.
• Live Video

The swimming events were not included in the original announcement of the games and its structure. Ultimately LEN would agreed to participate in the event July of 2013, but because of where the games were situated in the competition calendar they decided the swimming events would only include junior athletes.

Because of this fact Baku will replace the European Junior Swimming Championships, an event which will be held in Hodmezovasarhely, Hungary next year.

The games, which began on June 12th and will conclude on June 28th, will involve 6000 athletes from 50 countries in 20 different sports.

Women’s 50 Breaststroke – Semifinals

Maria Astashkina of Russia powered through the women’s 50 breaststroke to claim the top seed going into finals. She was one of three athletes to break 32 seconds with her time of 31.47. Germany’s Laura Kelsch and Turkey’s Gulsen Beste Samanci were also under 32 seconds at 31.9’s.

Eight different countries will be represented in the final later in the session.

Men’s 50 Butterfly – Semifinals

Andrii Khloptsov of Ukraine posted the fastest time of the men’s 50 butterfly semifinal with a 23.90. He was just ahead of Bruno Blaskovic and Michal Chudy, touching them out by less than a tenth of a second. It took a 24.37 to qualify for the final in this event.

Russia and Poland were the only two countries to put two swimmers into the final. Danill Pakhomov and Roman Shevliakov qualified fourth and fifth for Russia and Michal Chudy and Pawel Sendyk were third and seventh for Poland.

Women’s 400 Medley – FINALS

Great Britain’s Abbie Wood won the first ever European Games swimming medal with her time of 4:41.97 for the Gold medal. She pulled away from the field, winning the women’ 400 IM by three seconds. The silver medal went to Ilaria Cusinato of Italy at 4:44.01 and Anja Crevar of Serbia won the bronze medal with a 4:45.84.

Wood’s teammate, Georgia Coates, just missed the podium with a time of 4:46.52 .

Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Semifinals

Anton Chupkov of Russia scared the Junior World Record to claim the top time in the men’s 200 breaststroke with his time of 2:10.69. The current jr World Record is held by Japan’s Ippei Watanabe at 2:10.23. Chupkov’s teammate, Kirill Mordashev had the second fastest time of the day at 2:13.29.

Women’s 200 Butterfly – Semifinals

Spain earned the top seed going into finals of the women’s 200 butterfly with a top time of 2:11.52 from Carmen Balbuena Heredia. The finals race will be close, with the top three swimmers all qualified within .3 seconds of each other. Five different countries will be represented in the final. Hungary, Italy, and Great Britain all put both of their swimmers into finals.

Men’s 400 Freestyle – FINALS

Germany’s Paul Henschel will go down in the history books as the first male in history to win a European Games Swimming medal. He put together a fantastic race from lane one to overtake the field and win with a final time of 3:52.43. There was something fast about the lane one side of the pool, as lanes one, two, and three were the three swimmers that made the podium. Greece’s Dimitrios Dimitriou finished second for the silver medal at 3:52.57 and Ernest Maksumov of Russia picked up the bronze medal with a 3:52.65.

Spain’s Marc Vivas Egea just missed the podium with his fourth place time of 3:53.92.

Women’s 100 Freestyle – Semifinals

The Netherlands have a new sprint star in the making. Marrit Steenbergen blew away the field to earn the top qualifying spot in the women’s 100 freestyle. She nearly broke the Junior World Record with her time of 53.97. The current record was set by Shen Duo in 2014 at 53.84.

Russian sprinters Arina Openysheva and Mariia Kameneva were the only other swimmers to break 56 seconds at 55.26 and 55.36, respectively.

Men’s 100 Backstroke – Semifinals

Luke Greenbank was the next swimmer to finish within striking distance of the Jr World Record. He posted the fastest 100 backstroke of the morning with his time of 54.65. Apostolos Christou currently holds the jr World Record with his time of 54.03.

Marek Ulrich was the only other swimmer under 55 seconds during the semifinals with his time of 54.99.

There was a tie for eighth place between Robert Glinta of Romania and Tomas Franta of the Czech Republic at 55.70 that requires a swim off.

Women’s 200 backstroke – Semifinals

Italian swimmer Martina Rossi was the only swimmer to break 2:13 during the semifinal round of the women’s 200 backstroke. She will be the top seed going into finals tomorrow. Her teammate, Giulua Ramatelli, qualified fifth with her time of 2:14.93. They were the only country to put two swimmers into the final.

It took a 2:16.65 to qualify for the final.

Men’s 50 Butterfly – FINALS

Andrii Khloptsov of Ukraine was just off his time from the semifinal earlier in the session, but his 23.92 was enough to secure the gold medal in the event. He narrowly edged out Poland’s Sendyk Pawel who finished second at 23.97 from the outside lane for Silver. The bronze medal went to Daniil Pakhomov of Russia with a 24.02.

Pakhomov’s teammate, Roman Shevliakov just missed the podium with his fourth place time of 24.05.

Women’s 50 Breaststroke – FINALS

Maria Ashtashkina secured Russia’s first swimming medal of the European Games with her time of 31.58. Laura Kelsch of Germany finished second for the silver medal with a 31.87, and Nolwenn Herve picked up the bronze medal at 32.08.

Women’s 800 Freestyle – Timed Final

Holly Hibbott picked up Great Britains second gold medal of the day with her winning time of 8:39.02 in the women’s 800 freestyle. It was a very close race with Russia’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova who won the silver medal with a time of 8:39.73. Marina Castro Atalaya won the bronze medal with her final time of 8:45.51.

Men’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay – FINALS

Great Britain’s relay of Duncan Scott, Martyn Walton, Daniel Speers, and Cameron Kurle followed Hibbot’s lead by holding off Italy and Russia to win the Gold medal. They finished with a final time of 3:19.58. Italy touched out Russia at the wall to secure the silver medal. Their final time was 3:20.19, only .02 seconds ahead of Russia at 3:20.22.

Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay – FINALS

The Russia team of Arina Openysheva, Vasilissa Buinaia, Olesia Cherniatina, and Mariia Kameneva combined to win the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay with their time of 3:43.63.

Russia was nearly run down by the Netherlands thanks to an incredible 53.00 anchor split from 15 year old Marrit Steenbergen. They picked up the silver medal with their time of 3:44.10, and Great Britain won the bronze medal at 4:35.80.