Mityukov Nears Swiss National Record In 200 Back To Close Out Geneva Challenge

2024 GENEVA CHALLENGE

• Friday, January 19th – Sunday, January 21st
• Geneva, Switzerland
• LCM (50m)
• Recap #1
• Results

The 2024 Geneva Challenge wrapped up tonight from Switzerland with domestic swimmers taking on athletes from Great Britain, France and beyond.

Antonio Djakovic of the host nation followed up his 800m free victory from night one with another impressive performance to capture 400m free gold.

The 21-year-old Short Course World Championships medalist logged a time of 3:48.88 to take the men’s 400m free on day 2 of the competition.

He logged the sole time of the field under 3:54, with his outing dipping under the previous Geneva Challenge meet record of 3:51.46 Italian Olympic medalist Gabriele Detti of Italy put on the books last year.

Djakovic’s time was far from his lifetime best of 3:43.93 from when he earned silver at the 2022 European Championshps but it was enough to grab the gold here.

Additionally, Djakovic topped the men’s 200m free podium, capturing gold in a final time of 1:47.71. Djakovic’s outing represented the sole result of the field under the 1:50 threshold and established a new meet record. He overtook the previous competition mark of 1:48.30 Nils Liess put on the books 2 years ago.

British ace Daniel Jervis made his presence known in the men’s 1500m free, securing gold in a time of 15:15.89. It not only beat the field by over 15 seconds but it also overtook the previous meet record of 15:17.08 Frenchman Marc Antoine Olivier established in 2022.

Jervis’ career-quickest remains at the 14:46.51 earned in 2019, a time which rendered him Great Britain’s #3 performer in history.

Roman Mityukov approached his personal best and Swiss national record en route to grabbing gold in the men’s 200m back.

The 23-year-old notched a gold medal-worthy result of 1:55.99, a result which fell just over half a second outside the Swiss standard of 1:55.34 clocked at last year’s World Championships.

Mityukov’s time easily outperformed his meet record of 1:57.39 from 2021 and now renders him the #3 swimmer in the world this season.

Additional Notes

• Scottish ace Keanna MacInnes took the women’s 50m fly in a time of 26.73. She doubled up with gold in the 100m fly in a result of 58.88, defeating versatile French ace Charlotte Bonnet who settled for silver in 59.05.
• The women’s 50m breast saw Italy’s Lisa Angiolini log a result of 31.34 to grab the gold ahead of Russia’s Nika Godun who settled for silver in 31.65.
• Spain’s Alba Vazquez proved too quick to catch in the women’s 400m IM, putting up a winning effort of 4:46.55. That not only beat the field by nearly 9 seconds but it also overtook the previous Geneva Challenge meet record of 4:46.58 Hungary’s Zsuzsanna Jakabos put on the books in 2016.
• Olympic medalist Jeremy Desplanches of the host nation posted a time of 1:59.83 to win the men’s 200m IM in the only outing of the field under 2:02.