Konrad Czerniak, Alicja Tchorz, Dominika Sztandera, and Milena Karpisz each broke National Records on day 1 of the 2015 Polish Short Course National Championships, and 19-year old Wojciech Wjodak won a nail-biter of a 400 free.
In the first final of the championship, three swimmers all went within two-tenths of a second of each other. While the trio never spread by more than half-a-second, Wojdak wire-to-wire. While he had the slowest final 50 meters, he still had enough to win by the slimmest measured margin in 3:40.36. Filip Zaborowski took 2nd in 3:40.37 and Kacper Klich was 3rd in 3:40.57. All three swimmers were under the standard for the 2016 European Championships.
Bookending the excitement of the session, in the final individual event, was the men’s 50 free, where 26-year old Konrad Czerniak won in 20.79. In the process, he broke his own National Record in the event, and swam a lifetime best (in long course or short course) in the 50 free for the first time since 2011.
The star of the meet on the women’s side was Alicja Tchorz, who broke a National Record of her own. She swam a 2:07.97 in the 200 IM that broke Katarzyna Branowska’s 2007 National Record by over a second (2:09.25).
By FINA points, that wasn’t even her best swim of the night though. That honor came in a 200 medley relay leadoff where she split a 26.25 backstroke – a tenth short of the record in that event.
Meanwhile, in the women’s distance event of the day, the 800 free, Milena Karpisz cleared the National Record by a thinner margin. She swam an 8:25.70 that went under Otylia Jedrzejczak’s 2004 record of 8:25.70. The old record came in a precursor to the 2004 Olympics where Jedrzejczak won three Olympic medals, including gold in the 200 fly.
Thursday was the first of four days of competition in Lublin at the country’s official qualifier for the 2016 European Championships.