Wellbrock, Kamminga & Gose Log Impressive Results On Day 1 Of 2024 AP Race International

2024 AP RACE INTERNATIONAL

• Saturday, May 25th – Monday, May 27th
• London Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Results

The 2nd annual AP Race London International Meet kicked off today from London Aquatics Centre, with a mix of age group athletes and elite-level racers taking to the 2012 Olympic Games pool.

Right off the bat, we saw an impressive performance from Olympic gold medalist Florian Wellbrock of Germany in the men’s 1500m free.

26-year-old Wellbrock produced a winning effort of 14:49.18 to beat the field by nearly 20 seconds, with teammate Oliver Klemet next to the wall in 15:08.21. Italy’s Giorgio Dalla Libera rounded out the podium well back in 16:16.09 for bronze.

Wellbrock’s time was within striking distance of his season-best, a time which remains at the 14:42.28 logged at April’s German Championships to rank 3rd in the world on the season.

The first women’s event saw Olympian Anna Hopkin get it done for gold, with the Loughborough ace clocking a time of 24.73 to take the women’s 50m free.

Joining Hopkin under the 25-second barrier was Poland’s Kornelia Fiedkiewicz who touched in 24.95 while Germany’s Nele Schulze hit 25.04 for 3rd place.

Hopkin placed 6th in this event at this year’s World Championships turning in a time of 24.51 in Doha, beating the 24.53 she put up for gold at GBR’s Olympic Trials in April.

The men’s 100m fly saw visiting Czech swimmer Daniel Gracik pull off a mild upset over host nation star James Guy.

Gracik turned in a time of 51.87, the fastest of his career, to beat Guy’s effort of 52.59. Bryan Leong grabbed the bronze in 52.95.

Entering this competition, Gracik’s lifetime best rested at the 52.16 notched at April’s Eindhoven Qualification Meet meaning the 19-year-old earned his first-ever 51-point outing with this evening’s result.

The women’s 400m free saw a two-woman battle unfold between Germany’s Isabel Gose and Czech Republic’s Barbora Seemanova.

When it came down to getting to the wall first, Gose got it done, clocking 4:03.18 to Seemanova’s 4:03.41.

Gose’s result was just outside her season-best and lifetime best of 4:02.39, the national record she established to earn the bronze this year in Doha. As for Seemanova, the 24-year-old crushed a big-time personal best with tonight’s effort, easily overtaking her previous PB and Czech standard of 4:06.09 put up during the 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup.

Finally, the swimmer after which this meet is named, Adam Peaty, was indeed in the water, contesting the final event of the evening.

Peaty bagged the bronze in the men’s 100m breast, posting a solid in-season 59.54 to touch behind a pair of Dutchmen.

Arno Kamminga clocked the quickest time, hitting 58.96 as the speediest competitor. Casper Corbeau was next in 59.18, another impressive performance for the former Texas Longhorn.

Peaty already owns a season-best of 57.94 to rank #2 globally after producing his first sub-58-second result since the Tokyo Games. Kamminga ranks 4th in the world, courtesy of the 58.68 eked out at this year’s World Championships.

Additional Winners

• The men’s 200m backstroke was void of anyone dipping under the 2:00 barrier, with Birmingham’s Olympic qualifier Oliver Morgan stopping the clock in 2:00.05 for the gold.
• Keanna MacInnes of the University of Stirling topped the women’s 200m fly podium producing a time of 2:08.54. Zsuzsanna Jakabos of Hungary joined MacInnes in sub-2:10 territory, scoring 2:08.87 while MacInnes’ teammate, Lucy Grieve hit 2:11.98 for the bronze. MacInnes currently ranks 10th in the world at the moment, courtesy of the 2:07.24 notched for the title at this year’s British Olympic Trials.
• Germany’s Cedric Buessing kept his winning streak alive in the men’s 400m IM, registering 4:13.92 to beat the field by 5 seconds tonight. Buessing qualified for this event for this summer in Paris after crushing a lifetime best of 4:12.33 at April’s Eindhoven Qualification Meet.
• Loughborough’s Lauren Cox posted a time of 27.84 to take the women’s 50m back ahead of Stirling Olympian Kathleen Dawson. Dawson settled for silver in 28.22 as Germany’s Laura Riedemann also landed on the podium in 28.52 for bronze.
• Dutch national record holder Tes Schouten displayed her breaststroking prowess, grabbing the 200m gold in 2:22.08. That gave her a healthy advantage over Stirling’s Angharad Evans who settled for silver in 2:25.41 while teenager Eneli Jefimova of Estonia nabbed bronze in 2:27.01.
• Kenzo Simons of the Netherlands clocked a time of 22.11 to top the men’s 50m free podium, with Germay’s Olympic qualifier Artem Selin less than a tenth behind in 22.20. 2023 world champion Matt Richards rounded out the top 3 finishers in 22.28. Richards qualified for Paris in this event after hitting 21.83 to place 2nd behind Ben Proud at this year’s Trials.