2022 EUROPEAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, July 5th – Sunday, July 10th
- Otopeni Olympic Swimming Complex, Bucharest, Romania
- LCM (50m)
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- Prelims: 10 a.m. local / 3 a.m. ET
- Finals: 5 p.m. local / 10 a.m. ET
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The Croatian swimmers set a new National Record in the Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay during the first finals session at the 2022 European Junior Championships.
The team of Jana Pavalic, Lucijana Lusick, Matea Ivekovic, and Mia Hren combined for a time of 3:49.56, besting the record of 3:49.81 that the same team posted in prelims. Prior to today, the record stood at 3:51.13 from 2011. Notably, this relay consists entirely of 15 and 16 year olds. Ivekovic is the only 16-year-old in the group, with Pavalic, Lusick, and Hren all being 15-years-old.
Splits Comparison:
| Meet: | 2022 European Junior Championships Finals | 2022 European Junior Championships Prelims |
2011 Croatian Championships
|
| Swimmer 1: | Jana Pavalic– 56.1 | Jana Pavalic – 56.09 |
Anja Trišić – 57.76
|
| Swimmer 2: | Lucijana Lusick – 57.18 | Lucijana Lusick – 56.73 |
Kim Daniela Pavlin – 56.75
|
| Swimmer 3: | Matea Ivekovic – 59.07 | Matea Ivekovic – 59.40 |
Andrijana Benčić – 57.44
|
| Swimmer 4: | Mia Hren- 57.21 | Mia Hren – 57.59 |
Doroteja Bednjanec – 59.18
|
| Final Time: | 3:49.56 | 3:49.81 | 3:51.13 |
Between prelims and finals, Lusick and Ivekovic proved to be critical legs for the relay, both dropping almost a half second off of their splits from the morning session. With their drops, the relay was able to shatter their record despite a slight add from Hren and Pavalic splitting almost the exact same time as she did leading off the prelims relay.
In comparison to the 2011 relay, Jana Pavalic was a huge difference-maker, posting lead-off splits of 56.09 and 59.10 in prelims and finals, respectively. Both splits were over a second and a half faster than the 57.76 that Anja Trišić swam leading off the relay in 2011. Ultimately, this proved to be enough, as the team broke the 2011 record by 1.57 seconds. With her prelims relay split, Pavalic broke the Croatian National Record in the 100 freestyle as well. She will have the opportunity to improve upon that time in the individual event later in the week.
Originally Reported by Annika Johnson
GIRLS’ 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 3:36.19 – Canada (2017)
- European Junior Record: 3:39.91
- European Junior Championship Record: 3:40.10 – Russia (2021)
- 2021 European Junior Champion: Russia – 3:10.10
- Italy (Quaggio/Cacciapuoti/Curtis/Biagiotti) – 3:42.98
- France (Moluh/Preiter/Trompette/Rossi-Bene) – 3:43.49
- Germany (Finger/Springer/Werner/Jazy) – 3:45.63
Less than an hour after setting the 50 back championship record, Moluh led off France’s relay with the second-fastest first 100 split in the field of 55.62.
France had the lead through the third leg where Melora Trompette hit the wall at 2:48.10 compared to Sara Curtis‘ 2:48.18. But it was Italy’s Matilde Biagiotti who took the lead on the final 100 after splitting a blistering 54.80. She had the second-fastest anchor leg split after Nina Sandrine Jazy who swam a 54.65 to help Germany out touch 4th place finisher Great Britain by .02.
Croatia cracked their national record to place 6th with a time of 3:49.56.
While Hungary’s relay finished 8th (3:54.60), they had the fastest first and last legs in the entire field. Padar led off the race with a time of 55.37 while Dora Molnar anchored in 54.13. Their middle splits of 1:07.73 by Ratkai and 57.37 by Gyurinovics set them behind, though. This was an especially odd swim from Ratkai who split a 56.81 in prelims to help the team secure the 2nd spot going into the final. It’s not clear what exactly happened, but if details are made public they will be added.