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Veterans Cerniak & Kawecki Punch Tickets To Gwangju At Polish Nats

2019 POLISH NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

After coming up short in the men’s 50m free and 100m fly, 30-year-old Konrad Czerniak nailed a World Championships qualifying time en route to gold in the men’s 50m fly tonight in Olsztyn.

Czerniak earned a winning time of 23.57 to represent 1 of 2 men under the 24-second threshold, with 22-year-old Michal Chudy earning the runner-up slot in 23.83. A minimum mark of 23.66 was needed to earn a spot on the Polish roster for Gwangju, so Czerniak got it done with his gold tonight.

Just one woman got under the 27 second threshold in the women’s 50m fly even, led by 29-year-old veteran Anna Dowgiert. Dowgiert clocked a winning effort of 26.55 to beat the field by about half a second, with 18-year-old Kornelia Fiedkiewicz earning the runner-up spot in 27.13.

Dowgiert owns the Polish National Record in the event with the 25.91 from 2016. A time of 26.34 is the minimum needed, however for the women to qualify for this summer’s World Championships in Gwangju, Korea.

Tonight’s 400m freestyle saw 19-year-old Aleksandra Polanska take the gold, clocking a mark of 4:15.17, a new personal best. Her podium-topping effort tonight overtakes her previous career-fastest outing of 4:16.47 she threw down last year for gold at XXIV Ogolnopolska Olimpiada Mlodziezy.

Following up on his 1500m freestyle gold from night 1, 23-year-old World Championships silver medalist Wojciech Wojdak burned rubber in the men’s 400m free to rack up another in at these Polish Nationals. Hitting the wall in a mark of 3:47.89. Wojdak’s time slides under the 3:48.15 qualifying time needed for GWangju, as well as represents the only swimmer of the night under the 3:51 barrier.

Wojdak’s time tonight falls within the top 5 times of his career and ranks him 17th in the world this season.

17-year-old Zuzanna Hersimowicz did damage in the women’s 200m back event, firing off a wining mark of 2:11.50. That narrowly cleared the World Championships qualifying mark of 2:11.53, giving the teen a bid to represents Poland this summer in Gwangju.

Two men accomplished the same feat in the men’s edition of the 200m back, with 28-year-old Radoslaw Kawecki clocking 1:56.64 tonight for gold. He owns the Polish National Record with the 1:54.24 from the 2013 World Championships.

Kawecki fell short of making the semi-finals in this event at the 2017 World Championships, registering just a time of 1:58.41 in Budapest. That rendered him 18th, so he’ll be looking to improve up on that outing this summer.

21-year-old Jakub Skierka also dipped under the Gwangju qualifying time, getting his hand on the wall in a time of 1:57.86. That’s Skierka’s 3rd fastest time of his young career.

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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