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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Adela Piskorska has been on an incredible improvement curve throughout the first four months of 2023, culminating with a sweep of the women’s backstroke events at the Polish National Championships last week.
Piskorska, 19, entered the year with lifetime bests of 28.47 in the 50 back, 1:01.37 in the 100 back and 2:14.69 in the 200 back, and has managed to improve all three of those PBs on numerous occasions so far in 2023.
The biggest drop has come in the 200 back, as Piskorska, whose previous best of 2:14.69 was set back in June 2021, has now taken off more than five seconds in the last few months en route to breaking a super-suited National Record.
After breaking 2:10 for the first time at the Berlin Open on April 23, clocking 2:09.82, Piskorksa unleashed a time of 2:09.40 just three days later at Polish Nationals, breaking the Polish Record of 2:09.74 established by Alicja Tchorz back at the 2009 World Championships.
Split Comparison
| Tchorz, 2009 Worlds | Piskorska, Berlin Open | Piskorska, Polish Nats |
| 30.65 | 30.47 | 30.16 |
| 1:04.04 (33.39) | 1:03.04 (32.57) | 1:02.53 (32.37) |
| 1:37.50 (33.46) | 1:36.28 (33.24) | 1:36.17 (33.64) |
| 2:09.74 (32.24) | 2:09.82 (33.54) | 2:09.40 (33.23) |
Piskorska’s progression over the last few months has been nothing short of incredible:
| 50 back | 100 back | 200 back | |
| PB Entering 2023 | 28.47 | 1:01.37 | 2:14.69 |
| Feb. 2023 (Lublin, POL) | 28.21 | 1:01.04 | 2:13.26 |
| March 2023 (Oswicim, POL) | 28.27 | 1:00.26 | 2:13.44 |
| April 2023 (Stockholm, SWE) | 28.20 | 1:00.30 | 2:12.51 |
| April 2023 (Berlin, GER) | – | 1:00.16 | 2:09.82 |
| April 2023 (Olsztyn, POL) | 27.92 | 59.76 | 2:09.40 |
In addition to her record-breaking performance in the 200 back, Piskorska also cracked the 1:00 barrier for the first time in the 100 back, with her 59.76 clocking bringing her within .01 of the National Record set by Paulina Peda (59.75) last year.
In the 50 back, Piskorska went sub-28 for the first time, clocking 27.92 to come within two-tenths of the Polish Record.
Piskorska has now qualified for her LC World Championship debut, set to represent Poland this summer in Fukuoka after she got her feet wet by swimming at the 2022 Short Course Worlds in Melbourne.
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