2016 European Championships Day 7 Prelims Recap

2016 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 7

• Monday, May 16th – Sunday, May 22nd
• Prelims: 10:00 AM (London Time) / 5:00 AM (Eastern Time)
• Finals: 6:00 PM (London Time) / 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)
• London Aquatics Center, London, UK
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Stream

The final morning of the meet left room for only swims that would not need a semi-final. Thus, the women’s 400 free, men’s 400 IM and two relays on tap before the meet concludes tonight.

The medley relays offer the most intrigue, although European men will have a harder time climbing into medal contention come Rio. France is the defending world bronze medalists in this relay for men, while the Swedish women won silver in Kazan.

Women’s 400 Freestyle

1. Martina de Memme, ITA 4:09.36
2. Mireia Belmonte Garcia, ESP 4:09.60
3. Boglarka Kapas, HUN 4:09.80
4. Melanie Costa Schmid, ESP 4:10.00
5. Diletta Carli, ITA 4:10.25
6. Jazmin Carlin, GBR 4:10.78
7. Sharon von Rouwendaal, NED 4:12.08
8. Camilla Hattersley, 4:12.26

Boglarka Kapas will try to complete a distance sweep tonight after victories in the 800 and 1500 earlier in the meet. She outlasted Belmonte in the 1500 yesterday, and Belmonte did not swim well in the 200 fly subsequently. This gives the race added significance for the Spaniard, although Kapas has proven that she is toughened from strong domestic competition.

Van Rouwendaal won a silver at World’s last summer but does not look primed for this competition having already qualified for the Dutch Olympic team.

Men’s 400 Medley

1. David Verraszto, HUN 4:14.49
2. Max Litchfield, GBR 4:15.06
3. Richard Nagy, SVK 4:15.79
4. Federico Turrini, ITA 4:17.13
5. Gal Nevo, ISR 4:17.70
6. Gergely Gyurta, HUN 4:17.76
7. Alexander Osipenko, RUS 4:18.88
8. Semen Makovich, RUS 4:19.39

David Verraszto continues to look sharp in the lead up to what could be a medal swim in Rio. Verraszto seems to have benefited from becoming Hungary’s main man in this race over the last few years. Right behind him was the fast rising Max Litchfield, who was a slight surprise to make the British Olympic team earlier in the year.

Gal Nevo could make a move for a medal after a solid performance to get silver earlier in the meet in the 200.

Women’s 4×100 Medley

1. Sweden 4:02.99
2. Finland 4:03.40
3. Italy 4:03.49
4. Great Britain 4:03.53
5. Czech Republic 4:04.25
6. Poland 4:05.46
7. Belgium 4:06.17
8. Iceland 4:06.37

Sweden qualified first, even without using Sjostrom on the butterfly leg or Michelle Coleman for freestyle. Britain could potentially upgrade tonight with Halsall to give them a run, as Harriet Cooper split just 55.10 on their freestyle leg.

Hrafnhildur Luthersdottir willed Iceland into the final with a 1:06.51 breaststroke split, short of Jennie Johannsson’s 1:06.11 to lead all breaststrokers. Kimberly Buys had a nice 100 butterfly (58.25) for Belgium.

Men’s 4×100 Medley

1. Italy 3:36.16
2. Lithuania 3:36.46
3. Hungary 3:36.81
4. France 3:36.87
5. Great Britain 3:37.11
6. Greece 3:37.50
7. Ireland 3:38.40
8. Sweden 3:38.41

Italy qualified first with room for improvement tonight by substituting Luca Dotto in for their freestyle leg and Piero Coda for butterfly, although Coda is only slightly faster than Rivolta. Lithuania was a bit of a surprise in second but good swims from their entire relay, including a solid 48.56 anchor from Simonas Bilis.

France could certainly upgrade tonight as well, by replacing Agnel on the freestyle and Stasiulus on backstroke. Great Britain can add Peaty to breaststroke. Despite the presence of a couple veterans in Skvorstov and Grechin, Russia missed out on the final.