2014 LEN EUROPEAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, August 13-Sunday, August 24, 2014 (pool swimming Monday, 8/18-Sunday 8/24)
- The Velodrom, Berlin, Germany
- Local time: Prelims 9:30am, Finals 6pm (Monday-Thursday), 4pm (Friday-Sunday)
- Meet website
- Event schedule
- Live stream
- Live results
MEN’S 50 FLY – Finals
- 2012 European Champ: Rafael Munoz, Spain, 23.16
- 2010 European Champ: Rafael Munoz, Spain, 23.17
- Meet Record: Miolrad Cavic, Serbia, 23.11 – 2008
- World Record: Rafael Munoz, Spain, 22.43 – 2009
- European Record: Rafael Munoz, Spain, 22.43 – 2009
The men’s 50-meter fly final, already one of the more exciting races in swimming, gave the crowd something extra to cheer about: a tie. France’s Florent Manaudou and Belarus’ Yauhen Tsurkin opened night three by touching simultaneously for the win in 23.00. This is the first butterfly medal at a major international meet for Manaudou, who has had an excellent week so far, beginning with his excellent split on France’s winning 4×100 free relay on night one.
Tsurkin, meanwhile, was a bit more of a surprise tonight, putting together an outside smoke from lane eight to get into the wall with Manaudou. The 23-year-old sprint star is no stranger to the podium–he took bronze in this event at 2012 Euros–but coming in hot from the outside to get ahead of championship record holder Andiry Govorov and Commonwealth champion Ben Proud was a bit unexpected.
In another strange twist, the top-seeded Govorov and Great Britain’s Proud tied for Bronze, as well, in 23.21. Both swimmers got off the blocks quickly, but couldn’t off the powerful Manaudou or Tsurkin.
WOMEN’S 100 FREE – SEMIFINAL
- 2012 European Champ: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden, 53.61
- 2010 European Champ: Fran Halsall, Great Britain, 53.58
- Meet Record: Britta Steffen, Germany, 53.30 – 2006
- World Record: Britta Steffen, Germany, 52.07 – 2009
- European Record: Britta Steffen, Germany, 52.07 – 2009
While some semifinal events tend to feel like time-fillers without any notable storylines, the women’s 100 free semifinals had plenty of intrigue to go around. Femke Hemmskerk, the top qualifier from prelims, had another statement swim tonight, blowing through the second semi in 53.66, nearly a half second faster than anybody else in the field.
Meanwhile, in an effort to conserve energy for her “biggest” race of the night, second-seed Sarah Sjostrum appeared to cruise through her semifinal, finishing in 54.31 for second in her heat (behind Pernille Blume of Denmark’s 54.26) and fourth position overall. Sjostrum’s countrywoman Michelle Coleman, the third seed after prelims, will be in the middle of the pool in finals; the 20-year-old touched in 54.15 for second overall.
Katinka Hosszu made her way into another championship final (surprise!) with her fifth-place 54.48. She’ll be coming off her likely 200 IM semifinal swim tomorrow evening. Veronika Popova of Russia (54.58), Fatima Gallardo Carapeto of Spain (54.85), and Charlotte Bonnet of France (54.90) also made their way into the final tomorrow night.
MEN’S 100 BACK – FINALS
- 2012 European Champ: Aristeidis Grigoriadis, Greece, 53.86
- 2010 European Champ: Camille Lacourt, France, 52.11 – 2010
- Meet Record: Camille Lacourt, 52.11 – 2010
- World Record: Aaron Peirsol, United States, 51.94 – 2009
- European Record: Camille Lacourt, France, 52.11 – 2010
Picking up right where he left off after an excellent Commonwealth Games, Christopher Walker-Hebborn of Great Britain took down French veteran Jeremy Stravius to win the men’s 100 backstroke, touching in 53.32 to Stravius’ 53.64. Walker-Hebborn has years of international experience under his belt, but 2014 has unquestionably been the best year of his career so far; the 24-year-old came into the meet as the #5 ranked swimmer in the world and top seed from his gold medal performance in Glasgow last month. Although that’s a season best for Stravius, the 2011 World Championship gold medalist and 2013 bronze medalist hasn’t been down around his best times for a number of years in this event.
Jan-Phillip Glania of Germany stood pat in third place to earn his first major international medalwith a final time of 54.15. Countrymate Christian Diener was just behind, finishing in 54.23 for fourth place.
WOMEN’S 50 BUTTERFLY – FINALS
- 2012 European Champ: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden, 25.64
- 2010 European Champ: Therese Alshammar, Sweden, 25.63
- Meet Record: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden, 24.87 – 2014
- World Record: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden, 24.43 – 2009
- European Record: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden, 24.43 – 2009
Fresh off her final qualification in the 100 freestyle, Sarah Sjostrum of Sweden was back in the water around 15 minutes later seeking gold in the women’s 50 butterfly. Despite being well off her insane world record performance from earlier this year, Sjostrum had plenty left in the tank to get the win. Her final time of 24.98 was just a hair off her 24.87 meet record from earlier in the meet, more than three tenths ahead of Jeanette Ottesen Gray’s second-place 25.34. British star Fran Halsall was third in 25.39.
To put that “slow” time from Sjostrum into perspective, it’s still faster than any other swimmer has ever been. Notably, 37-year-old Swedish veteran and former world record holder Therese Alshammar was sixth in the heat in 26.10.
MEN’S 100 BREAST – FINALS
- 2012 European Champ: Fabio Scozzoli, Italy, 1:00.55
- 2010 European Champ: Alexander Dale Oen, Norway, 59.20
- Meet Record: Adam Peaty, Great Britain, 58.68 – 2014
- World Record: Cameron van der Burgh, South Africa, 58.46 – 2012
- European Record: Hugues Duboscq, France, 58.64 – 2009
There’s something in the water across the pond that is slowly turning Great Britain into arguably the world’s preeminent breaststroke powerhouse in the world. After taking six of the nine medals at the Glasgow-hosted Commonwealth Games last month, the breaststroke collective from Great Britain has gone international. Adam Peaty and Ross Murdoch put together a statement 1-2 finish, with Peaty, the new meet record holder and world #1, touching first in 58.96, and Murdoch a half second behind in 59.43.
Giedrius Titenis of Lithuania, the winner of the second semifinal last night, was third in 59.61. Notably, Daniel Gyurta of Hungary was fourth in 59.88
WOMEN’S 100 BREAST – SEMIFINAL
- 2012 European Champ: Sarah Poewe, Germany, 1:07.33
- 2010 European Champ: Yulia Efimova, Russia, 1:06.32
- Meet Record: Yulia Efimova, Russia, 1:06.32 – 2010
- World Record: Ruta Meilutyte, Lithuania, 1:04.35 – 2013
- European Record: Ruta Meilutyte, Lithuania, 1:04.35 – 2013
Nothing particularly noteworthy here: Rikke Moeller Pedersen was easily the top qualifier, finishing in 1:06.34, nearly a full second ahead of the next best qualifier. The second overall seed going into tomorrow night is 17-year-old Italian Arianna Castiglioni, who cut another two tenths from her breakout prelims slim to finish in 1:07.31. Jennie Johansson of Sweden finished second behind Pedersen in the first semifinal to earn the third spot overall with a final time of 1:07.39.
Jessica Vall Montero (1:07.52), Maria Astashkina (1:07.66), Petra Chocova (1:07.70), Moniek Nijhuis (1:07.82), and Vitalina Simonova (1:07.84) will make up the rest of the A-final.
MEN’S 200 IM – SEMIFINALS
- 2012 European Champ: Laszlo Cseh, Hungary, 1:56.66
- 2010 European Champ: Laszlo Cseh, Hungary, 1:57.73
- Meet Record: Laszlo Cseh, Hungary, 1:56.66 – 2012
- World Record: Ryan Lochte, United States, 1:54.00 – 2011
- European Record: Laszlo Cseh, Hungary, 1:55.18 – 2009
For those of you who were still wondering, yes, Laszlo Cseh is still around, and yes, he’s still fast. The four-time defending European champion opened up a big lead over the first 100 of the second semifinal, and cruised in for the win in 1:58.00. Philip Heintz of Germany made the heat interesting with a very good all-around swim for second in 1:58.17, while countrymate Markus Diebler was the winner of the first semifinal in 1:59.43.
Spain’s Eduardo Solaeche Gomez, who swam collegiately for the University of Florida, was second in that heat in 1:59.64 for fifth overall. His former college teammate Marcin Cieslak (2014 NCAA champion in the short course 200 yard IM) will in lane eight tomorrow after sneaking into the final by 0.09 with a final time of 2:00.32. Britain’s Roberto Pavoni (1:59.54), Italy’s Federico Turrini (1:59.80), and Portugal’s Alexis Manacas Santos (2:00.12) make up the rest of the A-final.
WOMEN’S 200 BACK – FINAL
- 2012 European Champ: Alexianne Castel, France, 2:08.41
- 2010 European Champ: Lizzie Simmonds, Great Britain, 3:07.04
- Meet Record: Krisztina Egerszegi, Hungary, 2:06.62 – 1991
- World Record: Missy Franklin, United States, 2:04.06 – 2012
- European Record: Anastasia Zueva, Russia, 2:04.94 – 2009
Although it wasn’t particularly fast, the women’s 200 backstroke brought what might have been the most entertaining race of the night. Simona Baumrtova of the Czech Republic took an early lead through the 100 mark at 1:02.81 before the field, particularly Duane Da Rocha Marce and Elizabeth Simmonds. With Baumrtova carrying a half-second lead but fading quickly at the final turn, five women (Baumrtova, Daria Ustinova, Da Rocha Marce, Simmonds, and Melanie Costa Schmid) were within 1.2 seconds of each other. Da Rocha Marce was the fastest closer, getting her hand on the wall for the win in 2:09.37, just ahead of Simmonds, who was second in 2:09.66, and Ustinova (third, 2:09.79).
MEN’S 200 FREE – SEMIFINALS
- 2012 European Champ: Paul Biedermann, Germany, 1:46.27
- 2010 European Champ: Paul Biedermann, Germany, 1:46.06
- Meet Record: Pieter van den Hoogenband, 1:44.89 – 2002
- World Record: Paul Biedermann, Germany, 1:42.00 – 2009
- European Record: Paul Biedermann, Germany, 1:42.00 – 2009
400 MIXED MEDLEY RELAY – FINAL
- 2012 European Champ: N/A
- 2010 European Champ: N/A
- Meet Record: N/A
- World Record: Australia, 3:46.52 – 2014
- European Record: Russia, 3:48.74 – 2014
mr berkoff is right. a lot of comments here are monday morning quarterbacking and speculation. the human body can only do as much and we often do not know what the limit is. i am sure that is very hard to peak in the same way every single year. it is pointless to compare phelps with anyone else. he is the type of athlete that comes once every 50 yrs. i dont think we will see another phelps in the pool in our lifetimes so please the comparisons with him are totally pointless. even lochtle’s accomplishments will be very hard to beat. if the olympics are the super bowl or world cup for swimming then it makes sense to shoot… Read more »
Thee are a few famous high mileage squads in the world open to selected internationals .chiefly in France Australia & the USA & one maybe opening up in Spain. Some do very well until they arrive at X point as do the local squad members. Everyone has their own tipping point when it overwhelms ( it is never underwhelming) . But this is the avenue the swimmers have chosen – everyone knows the risks of injury , sickness , fatigue & just never getting out of the hole . Everybody hopes for the golden ray of sunshine aka taper high but sometimes it does not come.
For an insight look up Lauren Boyle’s interview on her recent spell with… Read more »
I am going to disagree with Mr Berkoff. Some athletes have to be treated like thoroughbreds and Agnel was already an Olympic gold medalist so it isn’t like he hadn’t done some work. Everyone knows that Michael hasn’t done the work in years that the others have been doing at nbac …either getting out early or just not showing up so he didn’t get overstrained!
BTW, Ous has already left nbac about a month ago and just a matter of time before Yannick and Lotte do the same? Two bad seasons for Allison…. luschinger goes there as national champion and comes out as Tom who? I guess one can rationalize it anyway you want but maybe the program isn’t… Read more »
Ous has left NBAC for good? I did not realize that
Where is Ous training going forward? I hadn’t heard this news.
Good swim, good swimmer. Bad swim, bad coach.
Ain’t that the truth! I love how these internet message board “experts” are quick to disparage world class, elite level coaches if their athletes don’t PR in every event at a big meet. If swimming top ten times was as simple as some of these “experts” seem to think it is, I’d still be swimming.
Swimming super fast is super difficult.
Peaty is very impressive ! Have not often seen such a breastroker’s stenght for a long time . Amazing talent : How many 59. and 58. has he had this year ?
One of the talents out there who keeps his game spot on . Love it
For a swimmer of the caliber of Agnel, this is not a big meet. This might just be a off-year.
If he pulls off a legendary double in Rio, two golds in the 200 free at the Olympics, all this talk will be forgotten.
I wouldn’t put the blame on Bowman just yet if Agnel has one bad meet. They need to analyze what, if anything, went wrong and adjust training accordingly. However, of course there is a possibility that their cooperation just doesn’t work, but let’s wait little longer before drawing final conclusions.
However, I think there is no sense at all not to rest for your most important meet this year, because you think you’re spoiling your meet two years from now otherwise. Surely there is time to concentrate on one or two important meets in this year or next year and still go fast in Rio. If not, the likes of Sjöströms, Campbells etc. are out in 2016 because they rested… Read more »
I completely agree with you, but I think it’s not so much a question of blaming anybody as a question of evaluating the process as a whole. As part of the process, and especially when things don’t turn out the way they were planned, every coach should evaluate and be evaluated after a big meet or at least once the season is over, and I don’t think that’s the case. All I’m saying is: yes, he’s Phelps’ longtime coach and a key to his success, but not because of that should he be taken out of the equation.
The speculation that Bowman is not a great coach and that all of the 18-plus swimmers at NBAC aren’t swimming fast because Bowman doesn’t know what he’s doing is too funny for words and is indicative of our immediate gratification society–the French press being about the worst! I am betting that anyone training with the NBAC elite group sat down with Bob and his staff last year and were told “Get ready to get your ass kicked for the next 18 months so you can swim fast going into Rio.” Folks, you can’t fake long course and if you want to be a player in 2016, you’d better be doing the work now.
I’m going to disagree. There’s horses for courses, as they say, and I’m not sure Bowman’s methodology works for anyone but Michael. Bowman crushed Katie Hoff, at least from this observer’s perspective, and I think he’s doing the same to Agnel.
are you the david berkoff four time olympic medalist backstroker from the late 80s and early 90s ?