Kasia Wasick Lowers Polish 50 Free To 24.17, Ties For 5th Worldwide This Season

2021 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Swimming: Monday, May 17th – Sunday, May 23rd, 2021
• Budapest, Hungary
• Prelims at 10:00 am local/Finals at 6:00 pm local
• Event Site
• Entry List
• Live Results
• Live Stream

Kasia Wasick delivered a new Polish record of 24.17 in the 50 freestyle as she tied with Pernille Blume for the silver medal behind Ranomi Kromowidjojo‘s winning 23.97. The swim for Wasick improves upon her own record which she set during the semi-finals of the event with her swim of 24.34. Prior to that, the record stood at a 24.58 from the TYR Pro Series in March 2019, also from Wasick.

This is the first time that Poland has reached the podium in the women’s 50 freestyle at a European Championships. The Polish women have, however, won a number of gold medals in the history of the championships including Otylia Jędrzejczak‘s 2006 200 free victory, and 4 straight 200 butterfly victories between 2000 and 2006.

This is Wasick’s first European Championships performance since her 2016 retirement from the sport and subsequent 2018 comeback. Prior to her retirement, Wasick raced the 100 freestyle at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics for Poland and placed 27th and 29th respectively.

This swim for Wasick bumps her up to the 5th rank in the world this year where she’s tied with both Claire Curzan of the USA and Australia’s Emma McKeon. Wasick’s co-silver medalist sits at #2 in the rankings with a 24.06 from the semi-finals. The fastest woman in the world this year so far is gold medalist Ranomi Kromowidjojo who became the first sub-24 for 2020-2021 with her gold medal performance of 23.97.

Anna Hopkin was also present in the women’s 50 freestyle final, posting a 24.51 for 6th which was good enough for the 15th rank globally this season. The swim for Hopkin also earned her consideration for the British Olympic team, getting under the 24.60 FINA A standard. 4th and 5th place went to Russia’s Maria Kameneva with a 24.29 and the Netherlands’ Femke Heemskerk with a 24.32. Those swims for Kameneva and Heemskerk were a bit slower than their 8th ranked 24.20 and 10th ranked 24.28 season-bests, respectively. Michelle Coleman and Barbora Seemanova rounded out the top 8 with swims of 24.65 and 24.67.

2021 European Championships Women’s 50 Freestyle Final