Paweł Juraszek Opens 2021 Polish Championships With FINA A In 50 Free – 21.72

2021 Polish Swimming Championships

• April 28 – May 2, 2021
• Lublin, Poland
• Long Course Meters (LCM)
• Olympic Qualification Meet
• Meet Website
• Live Results

The 2021 Polish Swimming Championships has gotten underway in Lublin, Poland, and will mark the 4th and final opportunity for Polish swimmers to earn Olympic qualification. The Polish Swimming Federation designated 4 meets between February 1 and May 31, 2021, that can be used for Olympic qualification; the Arena Grand Prix in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski from February 27-28, the Grand Prix in Lublin from March 27-28, and the Arena Grand Prix in Warsaw from April 10-11.

Over the course of those 3 meets, Jakub Majerski earned Olympic consideration when he hit a 51.64 in the 100 butterfly in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, and Laura Bernat did the same as she hit a 2:09.81 200 backstroke to clear the FINA A cut of 2:10.39. Poland’s Kasia Wasick also swam under the FINA A standard recently in the 50 freestyle at the 2021 Arena Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo in the US, notching a 24.73 to clear the FINA A of 24.77.

During the first prelims session of the 2021 Polish Swimming Championships, one more swimmer managed to crack the FINA A in the form of Paweł Juraszek‘s 21.72 50 freestyle. That swim was quicker than the 22.01 it will take to qualify. In order to be nominated officially, Juraszek will need to make sure that no 2 swimmers swim faster than his 21.72 in the final. His biggest competition will come from second seed Karol Ostrowski and Konrad Czerniak who were 22.21 and 22.23 in the prelims, respectively.

On the women’s side, no one managed to hit the 24.77 FINA A standard of 24.77 as Kornelia Fiedkiewicz leads the field with a 25.52 while Anna Dowgiert was a 25.91. Alicja Tchórz (26.04) and Julia Maik (26.07) weren’t too far off the leading duo and they will all be back tonight to contest the event and try to crack 25.

Pawel Korzeniowski and Ksawery Masiuk got within a second of the men’s 100 butterfly cut of 51.96, looking to join Jakub Majerski under that time. Korzeniowski was a 52.83 as the quickest in the field during the prelims while Masiuk was a 52.93 for second.

In the women’s 100 fly, the field was a little bit further off from the standard and Klaudia Naziębło got the closest to the 57.92 FINA A by swimming a 59.59. Naziębło was the only woman to crack a minute in the event but will be joined by Paulina Nogaj in the final to was a 1:00.94 in the prelims and Martyna Piesko who was a 1:01.02.

Dominik Bujak and Krzysztof Chmielewski have set up a decent battle for the men’s 400 IM final, having posted prelim swims of 4:27.48 and 4:27.59, respectively. The two will need to drop a decent amount of time in the final in order to hit the FINA A standard which sits at a 4:15.84. They will be joined by Sebastian Ciastoń in the event who wasn’t far behind, having posted a 4:28.74 in the heats.

A similar battle will take place on the women’s side of the 400 IM between Kinga Paradowska (5:05.43) and Zuzanna Famulok (5:05.57). Paradowska and Famulok were the fastest 2 in the event during the prelims while Kamila Andrzejewska was a 5:06.82 for third seed. Should anyone hope to qualify for the Olympic Games in the event, it will take a sizeable drop to bring them down to the selection standard of 4:38.53.

Day 1 finals will feature the men’s and women’s 50 free, 100 fly, and 400 IM finals, along with the fast heat of the men’s 1500 free and women’s 800.