Eight Swimmers To Look Out For In Herning

With the European Short Course Championships beginning on Thursday we decided to give you a list of eight swimmers to look out for once the competition begins. With how many European athletes have been performed well this year the list could be a lot longer, but we have limited it to eight, four men and four women, that should have stellar performances as they go for the European short course crowns.

Men:

1. Vlad Morozov (Russia) – Morozov has had spectacular success over the last year, especially in the short course format. At last year’s European Short Course Championships he finished second in the 50 freestyle and came away with victories in both the 100 freestyle and 100 IM. He then went on to win both the 50 and 100 freestyle at the World Short Course Championships.

He finished second to Chad le Clos in the final 2013 World Cup rankings and is currently ranked first in the world in the 50 freestyle, second in the 100 IM and third in the 100 freestyle.

Morozov’s starting speed and turning ability make him a perfect fit for the short course format. The valuable winning experienced that he has gained in the last year at the European and World Short Course Championships as well as the World Cup he has proven that when the competition is in the 25 meter tank there isn’t anyone he can’t beat..

He will be in tough having to go up against Florent Manaudou who just put up the top ranked time in the world in the 100 freestyle and 100 IM, overtaking Morozov and as well as recording the second fastest time in the world in the 50 freestyle in Dijon this past weekend.

Events being swum (2013 bests):

• 50 freestyle – 20.59
• 100 freestyle – 45.64
• 100 IM – 50.97

2. Florent Manaudou (France) – Now to Morozov main threat in both the 50 freestyle and 100 IM, Florent Manaudou. Although Manaudou posted the world’s fastest 100 freestyle time last weekend he will not be swimming the event in Herning, opteing to swim all four 50s and the 100 IM.

If Manaudou’s training plan is going to work to perfection we will be in for quite a show. After seeing what he did at the French Nationals winning posting the world’s fastest ever textile time in the 100 freestyle, the top ranked time in the 100 IM and the second fastest time in the world in both the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly (first in Europe), his encore performance could be sensational.

Manaudou also holds down the fifth (second in Europe) position in the world in the 50 backstroke and eighth (fourth in Europe) in the world in 50 breaststroke.

At last year’s European Short Course Championships Manaudou got the best of Morozov winning the 50 freestyle, but only a few weeks later Morozov got his revenge beating Manaudou at the World Short Course Championships.

When looking at his results from last year this may a concern for Manaudou as he was not able to repeat the times he posted at the European Championships at the World Championships.

Events being swum (2013 bests):

• 50 freestyle – 20.62
• 50 backstroke – 23.43
• 50 breaststroke – 26.54
• 50 butterfly – 22.11
• 100 IM – 50.96

3. Daniel Gyurta (Hungary) – When it comes to the 200 breaststroke Daniel Gyurta simply does nothing but win. The 100 is a different story, but with the reigning short course world champion Fabio Scozzoli still sidelined after a knee operation the path is certainly a little less difficult for Gyurta to earn double gold.

Having said that Gyurta will be challenged by Damir Dugonjic of Slovenia, who finished second to Scozzoli at the 2012 World Championships and German Marco Koch, who is currently ranked fourth in the world.

In the 200 distance though expect it to be the same old story with the Hungarian standing on top of the medal podium, the question is just how fast can he be?

Gyurta set the World Cup record three times earlier this year posting a 2:01.44 in Eindhoven, a 2:01.37 in Berlin and a 2:01.30 in Tokyo. He currently holds the world record with a time of 2:00.67, which was set in 2009 in a polyurethane suit. Gyurta has shown time and again that he is at his best when the competition calls for it so it will be exciting to see if he can build on the time he put up in Tokyo and challenge his world record.

Events being swum (2013 bests)

• 100 breaststroke – 56.79
• 200 breaststroke – 2:01.30

4. Jeremy Stravius (France) – Jeremy Stravius is the reigning European Short Course champion in the 50 and 100 backstroke and will be attempting to defend those titles in Herning. Stravius is having an exceptional year having new French national records in both the 50 and 100 backstroke posting a time of 22.99 in the 50 at the World Cup in Doha and a 49.57 at the French National Championships in Dijon last weekend.

Stravius will also be competing in both sprint butterfly events. His times this year in both events put him sixth in the world and third in Europe, giving him a strong shot at the podium and if he can put together great races he will be within striking distance of the top spot in each event.

Events being swum (2013 bests)

• 50 backstroke – 22.99
• 100 backstroke – 49.57
• 50 butterfly – 22.58
• 100 butterfly – 50.06

Women:

1. Katinka Hosszu – Katinka Hosszu will be swimming seven individual events in Herning the 50 and 200 back, the 100 fly and 200 fly, and the 100, 200, and 400 IM’s. Hosszu dominated the World Cup circuit for the second year in a row breaking six world records in the process:

• 100 IM – 57.73 – Eindhoven
• 100 IM – 57.50 – Eindhoven
• 100 IM – 57.45 – Berlin
• 200 IM – 2:04.39 – Eindhoven
• 200 IM – 2:03.20 – Eindhoven
• 400 IM – 4:20.85 – Berlin

This was coming off her exceptional performance at the World Championships in Barcelona where she won the 200 and 400 IM as well as collecting a bronze in the 200 butterfly.

Hosszu’s program and preparation is built around being able to excel in many strokes and distances in the same competition, something she proved she could do during the World Cup events. She currently ranks first in the world in the 200 butterfly as well as the 100, 200 and 400 IM, fifth in the 100 butterfly (third in Europe) and seventh in the 200 backstroke (third in Europe).

At last year’s European Short Course Championships she won the 200 butterfly as well as the 100 and 200 IM while placing second in the 400 IM.

Events being swum (2013 bests)

• 50 backstroke – 27.04
• 200 backstroke – 2:03.04
• 100 butterfly – 56.24
• 200 butterfly – 2:03.05
• 100 IM – 57.45
• 200 IM – 2:03.20
• 400 IM – 4:20.85

2. Yulia Efimova – Yulia Efimova will be very familiar with her competition seeing that she kept both Ruta Meilutyte and Rikke Moller Pedersen off of the top spot on the podium in the 50 and 200 breaststroke in Barcelona, events that the two had set world records in.

Once again Efimova will battle it out with Meilutyte and Moller Pedersen, but this time she comes into the championships with the world record in the 50 breaststroke having posted a time of 28.71 in Tokyo at the World Cup. She also comes in ranked third in the world in the 100 breaststroke and second in the world in the 200 breaststroke.

Unlike her competition up until this year Efimova’s experience racing in the 25 meter tank has been limited over the last three years and by limited I mean she hadn’t recorded a short course result since 2010 and in fact coming into the year her lifetime bests in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.95) and the 200 breaststroke (2:19.08) were put up in 2007.

Events being swum (2013 bests)

• 50 breaststroke – 28.71
• 100 breaststroke – 1:03.02
• 200 breaststroke – 2:17.37

3. Ruta Meilutyte – Ruta Meilutyte has had an incredible year breaking the long course world records in the 50 and 100 breaststroke at the World Championships in Barcelona this past summer, collecting a gold in the 100 and a silver in the 50. Meilutyte then broke the world record in the short course 100 breaststroke posting a time of 1:02.36 at the World Cup in Moscow this October.

Meilutyte is also the reigning 50 and 100 breaststroke world champion and has the world’s top time in the 100 and second in the 50.

Meilutyte will also be swimming the 100 IM an event that she is ranked fourth in the world and second in Europe with only Katinka Hosszu having swum faster this year.

Meilutyte is continually improving and increasing her winning experiences makes her performances a must see event.

Events being swum (2013 bests):

• 50 breaststroke – 28.89
• 100 breaststroke – 1:02.36
• 100 IM – 58.57

4. Mireia Belmonte Garcia – The final choice was a hard one because ultimately I would be leaving an athlete that broke a world record this year out of the ‘look out for’ list, but hard decisions have to be made and I opted for including Mireia Belmonte Garcia and leaving Ranomi Kromowidjojo off.

Belmonte Garcia is having an incredible year setting new world records in the both the 400 and 800 freestyle swims, becoming the first woman to break the eight minute mark int the 800 distance. It is because Belmonte Garcia is going for gold in two events where she owns the world record that she made the list.

She will have significant competition especially from Lotte Friis of Denmark who currently trains in Baltimore with Bob Bowman and collected silver in the 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle events in Barcelona this summer.

Events being swum (2013 bests)

• 400 freestyle – 3:54.52
• 800 freestyle – 7:59.34
• 200 butterfly – 2:04.20

The full start list can be found here

The official website can be found here 

Schedule and results can be found here