2019 Denmark Long Course Championships Preview: Young swimmers top psych sheets

2019 Danish Long Course Swimming Championships

• July 11-14th, 2019
• LCM (50m), Prelims/Finals
• Helsingør Swimming Pool, Helsingør, Denmark
• Psych Sheets/ Live Results (in Danish)
• Meet Page (Danish)

While none of the swimmers on the World Championship roster for Denmark appear in the psych sheets, several young and talented swimmers highlight both the men’s and women’s meet. Many of the top seeds for all ranged and strokes come in under 20 years of age. It’ll be interesting to see how these races turn out, as young swimmers battle it out with veterans in many events..

Women’s Meet

The women’s psych sheet is dominated by experienced swimmers, but many other new and younger competitors will look to challenge across all strokes.

20-year old Josefine B. Pedersen tops the breastroke psych sheets; she’s ranked first in the 50 (31.29) and 100 (1:08.72), and 3^rd in the 200. She’ll have a close race with Anna Wermuth in the 100, who sits only 2 tenths back by seed. Meanwhile, Thea Blomsterberg comes in with the fastest time in the 200 in 2:25.98.

Similarly, Victoria Bierre claims the top spot in all 3 backstroke events; she’s psyched with times of 28.42 in the 50, 1:00.68 in the 100, and 2:10.84 in the 200.

Talented fly/free sprinter Caroline Erichsen will compete in the 50 and 100 fly and the 50 and 100 free. The 19 year old is the first seed in the 100 fly (59.04) and the 100 free (56.13), and 2^nd in both the 50s of those same strokes.

Distance specialist Helena Bach tops the psych sheets in the mid-distance free and butterfly. She’s ranked first in the 800 (8:42.12) and 400 free (4:13.43), 2^nd in the 200 free (2:00.57), 2^nd in the 400 IM (4:47.22), and 1^st in the 200 fly (2:10.49). She’ll battle it out with 200 free top seed Laura Jensen; the women are separated by a margin of 3 tenths (2:00.27 to 2:00.57).

Maria Grandt is the first seed in both the 200 IM and the 1500 and the 2^nd seed in the 800. She’ll look for an easy victory in the mile where she’s seeded over 7 seconds ahead of her nearest competition (16:35.61), while the 800m will be a more interesting race where both Grandt and Bach will fight for first.

Other notable entries

• Amalie Mikkselsen sits in first in the 50 fly with a time of 26.47. She’ll have some competition in Caroline Erichsen (2^nd, 26.61).
• 50 free top seed Karoline Barrett with also have a good race against Erichsen, as the two are separated by half a second (25.59 to 26.05).
• Katrine Villesen claims the first seed in the 400 IM (4:45.70), while versatile Helena Bach sits in 2^nd just 1.5 seconds back (4:47.22).

Men’s Meet

Under 20 seems to be the main theme of the men’s psych sheet; several newcomers have grabbed the top spots in multiple events.

Young distance ace Oskar Lindholm comes in as the first seed by over 21 seconds in the 1500 with a personal best of 15:21.48. The 16 year old is also psyched 1^st in the 800 and 3^rd in the 400m.

19-year-old Mathias Rysgaard comes in as the top seed in the 100 free, with a psyched time of 49.30. Veteran sprinter Kevin Witt Christensen is seeded 2^nd as the only other man under 50 seconds with a time of 49.63. Christensen is also the top seed in the 50 and the only swimmer psyched under 23 (22.83).

East Carolina grad Magnus Andersen claims the top seed in the 200 backstroke, just above the 2 minute barrier with a time of 2:00.35. He’ll have a tight competition in both Jakob Nissen and Kasper Schultz, with all 3 swimmers psyched within 4 tenths. Andersen also appears as 4^th in the 200 IM. Schultz himself is the top swimmer in the 100 back and 2^nd in the 50 back, with times of 55.59 and 26.15, respectively.

Top breastroker Philip Greve ranks first in both the 50 and the 100 breast. He’s the fastest in both events by margins of .8 and 2 seconds, respectively.

Mid-distance specialist Mikkel Gadgaard is the top seed in both the 200 and 400 free. The 20 year old is one of only 3 swimmers seeded under 1:50, and the only one under 1:49 (1:48.83).

Jacob Jorgenson is the top seed in the 400 IM, 200 IM, and 200 breast. He’ll look for an easy victory in the 200 breast (he’s the first seed by over 4 seconds), while the 400 IM and 200 IM will be closer races.

Other notable entries

• The Butterfly events come in split between 3 swimmers, with Jakob Juul first in the 50 with 24.50, 16 year old Rasmus Nickelsen claiming the 100 in 53.82, and Arthur Ellegaard ranked first in the 200.