Guy Tops Dean, Kamminga Makes Comeback On Day 1 Of Rotterdam

2022 ROTTERDAM QUALIFICATION MEET

• Thursday, December 1st – Sunday, December 4th
• Zwemcentrum Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• LCM (50m)
• Fukuoka World Championships-qualifying meet
• SwimSwam Preview
• Entries
• Live Results
• Livestream

The 2022 Rotterdam Qualification Meet saw two-time Olympic silver medalist Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands back in the water.

The 27-year-old has been sick on and off the past few months, which rendered the breaststroking ace off his game at this summer’s World Championships and European Championships.

Still eyeing Melbourne for this month’s Short Course World Championships, Kamming captured the men’s long course 50m breaststroke victory in Rotterdam. Touching in 27.33, Kamminga matched the FINA ‘A’ cut for Fukuoka 2023. For reference, Kamminga’s personal best and national record stands at the 26.80 he logged in April of 2021.

Of note, teammate and Texas swimmer Caspar Corbeau actually put up a swifter time in the morning heats, snagging the top seed in 27.26. Corbeau would wind up with the bronze come tonight’s final, with a slower mark of 27.53.

The men’s and women’s 200m freestyle events saw visiting British swimmers from the University of Bath steal the show.

In the men’s race, it was the trio of James Guy, Tom Dean and Kieran Bird who monopolized the podium.

Guy logged a solid time of 1:47.69 while Dean was only .13 behind in 1:47.82. Dean was out quicker on the front half in 52.23 to Guy’s 52.47, but Guy narrowly moved past the reigning 200m free Olympic champion to ultimately wind up with the gold. Bird rounded out the top 3 in 1:48.60.

The women’s race saw domestic swimmer Marrit Steenbergen hold off British dynamo Freya Anderson in the tightly contested duel. Steenbergen led from start to finish, although she stayed ahead of Anderson by just a few tenths the entire way.

Steenbergen touched in a mark of 1:57.02 to Anderson’s 1:57.33, with both representing the only racers of the field to get under the 2:00 barrier.

While Anderson owns a lifetime best of 1:56.06 from this summer’s World Championships in Budapest, Steenbergen’s PB rests at the 1:56.36 she produced en route to becoming the 2022 European champion in the event. As such, Steenbergen was less than a second off of that career-best result with tonight’s performance.

Additionally, both Steenbergen and Anderson comfortably dipped under the 1:58.72 FINA ‘A’ cut needed for Fukuoka.

Additional Winners

• Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Brodie Williams topped the men’s 200m back race here in Rotterdam, putting up a time of 1:58.26.
• Anne Palmans proved too quick to catch in the women’s breaststroke, stopping the clock in 31.48 for the top prize.
• The men’s 200m fly saw Thomas Jansen get the job done in 1:59.97 while GBR’s Holly Hibbott grabbed the women’s gold in 2:14.84.