2015 European Short Course Championships: Day 4 Live Recap

2015 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE SWIMMING CHAMPIONS AT THE WINGATE INSTITUTE IN NETANYA, ISRAEL

• Wednesday, December 2nd-6th
• Prelims at 9:30 am local (2:30 AM EST)/Finals at 5:30 pm local (10:30 am EST)
• Meet Information
• Event Timeline
• Live Stream: LEN Webcast
• Live Results

(Note for those reading results: Only TWO swimmers per nation may advance to the semi-finals, therefore you will see some swimmers from bigger countries “skipped” in the order of Qs in preliminary results)

Women’s 50 backstroke – semi-finals

European record holder Sanja Jovanovic of Croatia was the top qualifier in the women’s 50 backstroke recording a time of 26.60, which is currently the fifth fastest time in the world . Jovanovic was followed closely by Hungarian Katinka Hosszu who finished in a time of 26.65.

Aleksandra Urbanczyk was the next fastest qualifier posting a time of 26.83. Urbanczyk took down her own Polish national record of 26.94 which she set in 2009.

Men’s 50 butterfly – semi-finals

Russian Nikita Konovalov was the fastest qualifier in the men’s 50 butterfly posting a time of 22.54. Yauhen Tsurkin of Belarus, who won bronze in this event in 2013, was the second fastest qualifier putting up a time of 22.58 he was followed by Aleksandr Popkov of Russia who finished in a time of 22.70.

Women’s 100 breaststroke – final

Jenna Laukkanen of Finland has been having a spectacular year. In October she set new Finnish records in both the 50 and 100 breaststroke. On Wednesday she collected a gold in the 50 breaststroke breaking the Finnish record in the prelims, tying it in the semi-finals and then breaking it again in the finals.

Tonight she took the women’s 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:04.56 breaking her own national record of 1:05.02. Laukkanen left nothing to chance taking the first 50 meters out in a time of 30.13 over a half second ahead of the field.

Her time now puts her second in the world rankings.

Moniek Nijhuis of the Netherlands took the silver in a time of 1:05.21 followed by Viktoria Gunes of Turkey who hit the wall in a time of 1:05.32.

Men’s 100 freestyle – semi-final

Italian Marco Orsi, who finished second in the men’s 50 freestyle, was the top qualifier in the 100 freestyle recording a time of 46.42. Philipp Wolf of Germany was the next fastest qualifier posting a 46.80 followed by Sebastian Szczepanski of Poland who finished in a time of 47.13.

Women’s 200 IM – final

After breaking the world records in both the 100 and 400 IM all eyes were on Hungarian Katinka Hosszu as she went for her own world record of 2:01.86 in the 200 IM. Unlike the other two individual medley events Hosszu fell well short of her own standard winning the event in a time of 2:02.53.

Hosszu led the race from start to finish but was never able to match the record pace she set in Doha last year. She did set a new championship record beating her own mark of 2:04.33, which she put up in 2013.

Siobhan-Marie O’Connor of Great Britain finished second to Hosszu in Doha and suffered the same fate in Netanya. O’Connor finished in a time of 2:05.13 breaking her own British record of 2:05.87 which she posted in Doha.

Louise Hansson earned the bronze hitting the wall in a time of 2:07.96.

Men’s 100 IM – semi-final

Russian Sergei Fesikov was the top qualifier in the men’s 100 IM recording a time of 52.19. Coming into the race Fesikov had posted a 52.23 in November, which was the fastest time in the world this year. Yakov Toumarkin of Israel qualified with the second fastest time of 52.75, breaking the Israeli national record of 52.95 set by Gal Nevo in 2012.

Emmanuel Vanluchene of Belgium was the next fastest qualifier posting a 52.91 followed by Liam Tancock of Great Britain who finished in a time of 53.23.

Women’s 200 freestyle – final

Yesterday Italian Federica Pellegrini set a new national record in the women’s 100 freestyle and today she returned to the pool to take the women’s 200 freestyle in a time of 1:51.89. This is the fourth time that Pellegrini has won gold in this event at the European Short Course Championships. She also finished first in 2008, 2009 and 2013.

Femke Heemskerk of the Netherlands led this race from the first 50 to the 150 meter mark before both Pellegrini and Russian Veronika Popova overtook her in the final 50 meters of the race. Hemmskerk posted a 29.36 in the final 50 compared to Pellegrini who put up a 28.15 and Popova who had a split of 28.60.

Popova finished second in a time of 1:52.46 breaking her own national record of 1:52.84 which she set in Doha last year.

Heemskerk earned the bronze finishing in a time of 1:52.81.

Men’s 100 breaststroke – final

German Marco Koch, who won the men’s 200 breaststroke earlier in the competition, pulled off an upset in the 100 breaststroke beating long course world record holder Adam Peaty of Great Britain. Koch hit the wall in a time of 56.78 breaking his own national record of 57.02 which he posted in the semi-final.

Italian Fabio Scozzoli led the race at the halfway mark turning in a time of 26.64 followed closely by Peaty who put up a split of 26.71. Koch was the only swimmer in the field to break the 30 second barrier (29.70) in the final 50 meters propelling himself from sixth to first.

Peaty won the silver in a time of 56.96 followed by Giedrius Titenis of Lithuania who finished in a time of 57.02. Titenis set a new national record breaking the one he set in the semi-final where he posted a 57.47.

Women’s 100 butterfly – semi-final

Swedish star Sarah Sjostrom was the fastest qualifier in the women’s 100 butterfly posting a 55.65, which is a season’s best and places her atop the world rankings.

German Alexandra Wenk was the second fastest qualifier hitting the wall in a time of 56.48 setting a new national record beating the record of 56.94 set in 2006 by Antje Buschschulte. She was followed by Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark who finished in a time of 56.61.

Men’s 50 butterfly – final

Ukrainian Andriy Govorov took the men’s 50 butterfly in a time of 22.36 tying his own national record which he set at the European Short Course Championships in 2013. Yauhen Tsurkin of Belarus won the silver in a time of 22.56 followed by Russian Aleksandr Popkov who posted a 22.69.

Women’s 50 backstroke – final

Katinka Hosszu took her second event of the evening winning the women’s 50 backstroke in a time of 26.13. That makes it a swept of the backstroke events and six gold so far in Netanya. Aleksandra Urbanczyk of Poland collected the silver in a time of 26.27 breaking the Polish record she set in the semi-final posting a 26.83.

Croatian Sanja Jovanovic finished third in a time of 26.45.

4 x 50 freestyle mixed relay

The Italian team made up of Federico Bocchia, Marco Orsi, Silvia Di Pietro and Erika Ferraioli won the event in a time of 1:29.26 beating the championship record of 1:30.65 set by the Germans in 2013. The Russians finished second in a time of 1:29.59 followed by the Netherlands that finished in a time of 1:30.03.

Two of the splits that stand out the most were put up by Marco Orsi and Ranomi Kromowidjojo. Orsi recorded a 20.46 while Kromowidjojo posted a 22.73.