2016 European Championships Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

D2016 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 3

• Monday, May 16th – Sunday, May 22nd
• Prelims: 10:00 AM (London Time) / 5:00 AM (Eastern Time)
• Finals: 6:00 PM (London Time) / 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)
• London Aquatics Center, London, UK
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Stream

The third day of racing in London begins with three 200 meter races. In the first, the men’s 200 Butterfly, Laszlo Cseh will be looking to add even more medals to his 20 in European Championship competition. To do so he’ll have to defeat defending champion Viktor Bromer of Denmark in a race that features two potential medalists for Rio.

Following that, Katinka Hosszu will begin her quest for a third gold medal in these European Championships, in probably her safest event, the 200 Medley. Then Germany’s Marco Koch will have to contend with a couple of host country contenders in the 200 breaststroke

Men’s 200 Butterfly

1. Laszlo Cseh, HUN 1:54.51
2. Tamas Kenderesi, HUN 1:54.79
3. Viktor Bromer, DEN 1:56.67
4. Giacamo Carini, ITA 1:57.30
5. Antani Ivanov, BUL 1:57.76
6. Stefanos Dimitriadis, GRE 1:57.99
7. Carlos Peralta, ESP 1:58.28
8. Robert Zbogar, SLO 1:58.36

Laszlo Cseh provided immediate excitement, ripping a 1:54.51 to lead his own teammate in qualifying. The speed was wholly unnecessary, as it took just 1:59.03 to qualify for the semi-final. Still, the 30 year old veteran is booming with confidence after a medal in the 50 butterfly yesterday and is swimming better than ever.

Defending champion Viktor Bromer swam a more modest 1:56.67, and it looks likely he will have to find a new gear if he wants to overcome Cseh in the final. His personal best is just .1 faster than Cseh swam this morning.

Women’s 200 Medley

1. Katinka Hosszu, HUN 2:11.55
2. Hannah Miley, GBR 2:12.43
3. Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, GBR 2:12.76
4. Carlotta Toni, ITA 2:13.01
5. Evelyn Verraszto, HUN 2:13.13
6. Sara Franceschi, ITA 2:13.34
7. Barbora Zavadova, CZE 2:14.23
8. Wendy van den Zenden, NED 2:14.46

Katinka Hosszu swam one of her more measured races in this competition, still qualifying well ahead of the rest of the field. Her time was over five seconds back of her own world record in this race. 400 Medley medalist Miley looked sharp behind her, as did her teammate O’Connor.

Both Italy (4) and Hungary (3) placed too many swimmers among the top sixteen finishers. Zsuzsanna Jakabos, Ilaria Cusinato and Luisa Trombetti found themselves on the unlucky side of the two per country rule.

Besides Hosszu, the other defending medalist in this field, Lisa Zaiser of Austria, also made it through to the semi-final in 2:15.23.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke

1. Marco Koch, GER 2:11.29
2. Matti Mattson, FIN 2:11.78
3. Ross Murdoch, GBR 2:11.87
4. Erik Persson, SWE 2:12.21
5. Anton McKee, ISL 2:12.25
6. Mikhail Dorinov, RUS 2:12.76
7. Luca Pizzini, ITA 2:12.92
8. Dmytro Oseledets, UKR 2:13.33

Particularly after the 100 breaststroke final the night before, many of the top competitors came slow out of the gate in this morning’s preliminary. Marco Koch, the favorite, swam a leisurely 2:11.29, well off his championship mark of 2:07.47. Ross Murdoch, who won silver in the 100 last night, is the defending silver medalist in this event as well.

Mattson has shown flashes of greatness in this event but also inconsistency. The Finnish star is still looking to replicate the form that led him to Bronze at the 2013 Worlds. This result was far better than he fared in the opening rounds of 2014.

Women’s 100 Backstroke

1. Mie Nielsen, DEN 59.26
2. Katinka Hosszu, HUN 59.38
3. Kathleen Dawson, GBR 1:00.60
4. Katarina Listopadova, SVK 1:00.78
5. Ekaterina Avramova, TUR 1:00.82
6. Georgia Davies, GBR 1:00.84
7. Carlotta Zofkova, ITA 1:00.88
8. Alicja Tchorz, POL 1:00.89

Mie Nielsen and Katinka Hosszu tied for gold in this race two years ago. This morning, they both swam faster than the time that they shared in 2014. The two were the only swimmers in the field under 1:00. Both Hosszu and Nielsen have swum faster than this morning, but not by much and both seemed to be eager to put up a substantial time.

Defending bronze medalist Georgia Davies also made it through, although she was bested by her younger teammate Dawson. No young talents could break through, with Austria’s Caroline Pilhatsch putting up the top junior time in the field (1:02.52, 25th). Similar to Viktoria Gunes, Avramova is a foreign born (Bulgaria, in this case) athlete who has changed her sporting citizenship to Turkey.

Men’s 50 Backstroke

1. Grigory Tarasevich, RUS 24.85
2. Camille Lacourt, FRA 24.93
3. Tomasz Polewka, POL 25.00
4. Jonatan Kopevel, ISR 25.17
5. Shane Ryan, ITA 25.19
6. Robert Glinta, ROU 25.23
7. Guy Barnea, ISR 25.25
8. Nikita Ulyanov, RUS 25.29

The men’s 50 backstroke had a significantly different flavor than the 100, with several swimmers that specialize in the sprint coloring the semi-final roster. With both Vladimir Morozov and Jeremy Stravius out of the field, Chris Walker-Hebborn is the top returner, although Camille Lacourt holds the championship record from 2010 in 24.07,

Robert Glinta will be looking to overcome his disappointment from the 100. After crushing his own national record in prelims, the young Romanian was unable to match his speed in the next two rounds and finished out of the medals.

Women’s 800 Freestyle

1. Boglarka Kapas, HUN 8:27.75
2. Jazmin Carlin, GBR 8:29.53
3. Diletta Carli, ITA 8:30.41
4. Tjasa Oder, SLO 8:31.02
5. Jimena Perez, ESP 8:31.19
6. Maria Vilas, ESP 8:33.75
7. Sharon von Rouwendaal, NED 8:36.49
8. Simona Quadrella, ITA 8:37.25

Boglarka Kapas qualified first, ahead of defending champion Jazmin Carlin. Kapas was third in 2014, whereas Carlin swam the best time of her career (8:15.54). That time still sits as the championship record. Mireia Belmonte Garcia is not around to defend her silver medal, but two Spanish swimmers did make tomorrow’s final.