Anderson Cleans House While Guy Nears 100 Free PB To Close Out Flanders Cup

2020 FLANDERS SWIMMING CUP

• Saturday, January 18th & Sunday, January 19th
• Olympic Aquatic Centre Wezenberg, Antwerp, Belgium
• 50m (LCM)
• Meet Site
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap
• Live Results

Meet records fell like dominoes on the 2nd and final day of the 2020 Flanders Cup, led-off by Denmark’s Anton Ipsen in the 1500m free. The 25-year-old former NC State standout produced a winning time of 15:00.45. That outing overtook the previous meet standard of 15:05.57 logged by Ukrainian Mykhailo Romanchuk back in 2017.

Great Britain’s Freya Anderson kept the record-breaking streak rolling, registering her fastest ever 200m freestyle. Hitting the wall in 1:56.06, Anderson took down the Flanders Cup mark of 1:56.56 owned by Dutch Olympian Femke Heemskerk.

Anderson’s effort also ranks her as the 3rd fastest British performer of all-time, with tonight’s result marking the 18-year-old’s first time under the 1:57 threshold in this women’s 200m free. You can read more about Anderson’s eye-popping swim here.

But the teen wasn’t done, owning designs on taking the 50m free double to complete her sprint free trifecta. The Ellesmere Titan had already nailed a new personal best in the 50m this morning, collecting the top seed in 25.06. That made Anderson the 6th fastest British performer in history. 

Anderson fell just outside that morning swim come the final, however, hitting the wall in tonight with a result of 25.16. That edged out runner-up Danielle Hill of Ireland, who registered 25.38 for silver. Hill’s time fell just short of her 25.29 Irish national record set last year.

Irishman Shane Ryan made it 3-for-3 for meet records, with the 25-year-old World Championships bronze medalist touching in 24.90 to take gold by over a second. Ryan owns Ireland’s national record with the 24.32 he scored at the 2018 European Championships in early rounds. He ultimately finished with the bronze in 24.62.

Joining Ryan as a medalist for Ireland was 18-year-old Ellen Walshe. The teen busted out the 100m fly swim of her life, getting under the minute threshold for the first time of her career to win in 59.54. You can read more about Walshe’s historic swim here.

No man dipped under the minute threshold in the 100m breaststroke, however, as Lithuanians finished 1-2 in the event. Topping the podium was Andrius Sidlauskas, with the 22-year-old Olympian nabbing a time of 1:00.98. His countryman Giedrius Titenis was next in 1:01.13.

Last night’s 200m free and 100m fly winner James Guy of Great Britain bought home another gold, tonight taking the 100m free meet title in a mild upset.

Earning a mark of 49.53, Guy’s outing fell just .03 outside his own personal best in this off-event, which remains the 49.50 put up during last year’s Mare Nostrum Tour.

Behind Guy for 100m free silver this evening was Kyle Stolk, the 23-year-old Dutchman who owns a PB of 48.53, but notched 49.61 for runner-up status.

Rounding out the top 3 was Thomas Thijs of the host nation, touching just under half a second off his 49.45 PB with a result tonight of 49.80.

Of note, 15-year-old Jacob Whittle of Great Britain held his own, tying Sebastien De Meulemeester with a final time of 50.14. Whittle has been under the 50-second threshold already even at his young age, owning a lifetime best of 49.97 from last year’s European Junior Championships.

Relay action wrapped up the night, with the Dutch foursome of Kyle Stolk (49.61), Stan Pijnenburg (49.44), Luc Kroon (49.68) and Kenzo Simons (51.06) collectively clocking a winning time of 3:19.79 in the men’s 4x100m free relay.

For the women, it was the home nation combination of Valentine Dumont (55.50), Lotte Goris (56.60), Juliette Dumont (54.90) and Lana Ravelingien (56.11) earning gold in 3:43.11.

Of note, Anderson was back at it in the final race of the night, anchoring the Titans’ relay with a solid 53.44 to help give the squad bronze.

Additional Notes:

• Mie Nielsen 0f Denmark got her hand on the wall first in the women’s 100m back, clocking 1:00.14 to win by over 1 second. The 23-year-old owns the Flanders Cup meet record with the 59.81 she put up 3 years ago.
• Fellow Dane Viktor Bromer got it done for gold in the men’s 200m fly, with the veteran grabbing the top prize in 1:58.92. That out-touched runner-up Louis Croenen of Belgium who settled for silver just .04 later in 1:58.96.
• Britain got on the board again, courtesy of Stockport Metro’s Holly Hibbott. The Commonwealth Games silver medalist produced a winning 400m free time tonight 4:13.74.
• Dutchman Arjan Knipping easily defeated the men’s 400m IM field with a winning effort of 4:21.47. The next in line was Charlie Hutchison of Great Britain, with the teenager logging 4:23.77. He owns a personal best of 4:17.63 from 2019, where Knipping established a new Dutch national record with the 4:13.46 he nailed in Gwangju.
• The women’s 200m breast saw Thea Blomsterberg get her hands on the wall first in the 200m breast, stopping the clock 2:27.50.
• Shane Tusup-coached Nathalia Almeida was tonight’s 200m IM winner for the women, with the Brazilian earning the win in 2:16.82.
• 20-year-old Elliott Clogg claimed the men’s 200m back gold, grabbing a time of 1:58.92 as the only sub-2:00 swimmer. Clogg represents GBR’s 7th fastest performer of all time in this event, owning a PB of 1:57.96 from just last month.
• The men’s 50m fly final saw Polish veteran Konrad Czerniak take the win in 23.56.
• It was a close race in the women’s 50m breast, with Lithuania’s Kotryna Tetervkova getting a .11 advantage over Belgium’s Fleur Vermeiren. The former registered a time of 31.62 to the latter’s 31.73.