There will be an incredible amount of great races in the women’s events in Herning, but today we decided to narrow our list to three events that we are looking forward to at the European Short Course Championships.
Women’s 100 freestyle
Top Four European Ranked Swimmers:
- Ranomi Kromowidjojo (Netherlands) – 51.28 – 1st in world rankings
- Sarah Sjoestrom (Sweden) – 51.93 – 4th in world rankings
- Jeanette Ottesen (Denmark) – 52.09 – 5th in world rankings
- Femke Heemskerk (Netherlands) – 52.18 – 6th in world rankings
Without any doubt Ranomi Kromowidjojo is the favourite in this race especially with her performances last weekend at the Amsterdam Cup where she went 24.20 in the 50 freestyle and 54.08 in the 100 freestyle. Albeit long course and her 100 time is not that impressive, it does show the front end speed that she currently has, which is the advantage she has in this race and every race she swims.
Sarah Sjoestrom did push Kromowidjojo into the bronze medal position at the world championships this summer in Barcelona, so it is not as if the Olympic champion is unbeatable by those in this field, but in the short course pool having posted a time that is significantly faster than the rest of the field the race may be for second, but that will be dependent on how fast Sjoestrom and others swim the final half of the race.
If anyone is to push Kromowidjojo in the first half of the race it will most likely be Jeanette Ottesen, who has traditionally swam a much slower second 50 meters compared not only to Kromowidjojo, but Sjoestrom and Femke Heemskerk as well.
Women’s 100 butterfly
Top Four European Ranked Swimmers:
- Jeanette Ottesen (Denmark) – 55.94 – 2nd in world rankings
- Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden) – 56.14 – 4th in world rankings
- Katinka Hosszu (Hungary) – 56.24 – 5th in world rankings
- Ilaria Bianchi (Italy) – 56.80 – 8th in world rankings
Last year at both the European and World Short Championships Ilaria Bianchi proved herself to be the top short course 100 butterfly swimmer in the world posting a winning time of 56.13 in Istanbul. Last year heading into the european championships where she won the event in a time of 56.40 her season’s best had been a 56.86 so she has shown the ability to swim her best when it counts, but to win the championship title this year should take at least a 55 high, which may be a stretch for Bianchi to reach after posting a season’s best of 56.80.
Jeanette Ottesen has improved a great deal from her performances at the European and World Short Course Championships in 2012. Under the direction of Shannon Rollason she has gone from a 57.00 at the meet in Chartres, a Danish national record at the time, to a 55.94 at the World Cup in Berlin. Ottesen is the speed demon in this event and will take the race out fast, but will have as serious challenge to hold off the field in the second half of the event.
Sarah Sjoestrom showed at the World Championships in Barcelona that she is back to her winning ways taking the crown in the 100 butterfly in the long course pool. She has also shown during the 2013 season that she has the same type of ability to do it in the short course pool and just as in the 100 freestyle it will mostly likely be her performance in the second half of the race that will determine her placing.
By the time the 100 butterfly takes place on the final day of competition the fatigue will definitely effect Katinka Hosszu‘s performance. She will be prepared for that challenge, but with having to compete in the 400 IM on the same evening and after swimming her event schedule throughout the competition Hosszu may not have enough gas in the tank to compete with the talent that is assembled in this field.
Women’s 200 breaststroke
Top Four European Ranked Swimmers:
- Rikke Moeller Pedersen – 2:15.93 – 1st in world rankings
- Yulia Efimova – 2:17.37 – 2nd in world rankings
- Vitalina Simonova – 2:19.22 – 6th in world rankings
- Vikotoriya Solntseva – 2:19.50 – 8th in world rankings
There is sure to be criticism (probably a lot) of my choice to put this as one of the top three races to watch in Herning, especially since it will be a two woman race. But after watching Rikke Moeller Pedersen and Yulia Efimova battle it out in the final in Barcelona this is one that I am excited about. Pedersen has posted by far the fastest time in the world this year, but she did that in Eindhoven right after her amazing performance in Barcelona. Efimova’s season’s best was posted in Tokyo.
In Barcelona the two had an incredible head to head battle until Pedersen imploded on the final 50 meters:
- Efimova – 32.86/35.44/35.30/35.81 – 2:19.41
- Pedersen – 32.43/35.12/35.78/36.75 – 2:20.08
I expect that Pedersen will learn from that experience and with the speed that Efimova has shown this year, her ability to finish her races and that her season’s best of 2:17.37 was put up presumably in having training this should be an epic show down.