2020 BLACK SEA CUP
- Friday, September 4th – Sunday, September 6th
- Primorski Swimming Pool, Varna, Bulgaria
- LCM (50m)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Live Results
The 2020 Black Sea Cup wrapped up tonight in Varna, with many of Bulgaria’s Olympic hopefuls in the water. Although not an Olympic-qualifying event itself, this competition served as a good racing opportunity for those wishing to pursue Tokyo selection at the upcoming FINA-approved Grand Prix Burgas set for early November and the Bulgarian Open Team Championships scheduled for mid-December.
Leading the way for the men’s breaststroke was Luchezar Shumkov, with the national record holder sweeping the discipline’s events with ease. The 28-year-old veteran posted a 50m breast time of 28.24, a 100m breast time of 1:02.61, and a 200m breast of 2:17.68 to stand atop the podium three times.
17-year-old Kaloyan Levterov was another multi-event winner when all was said and done, with the teen taking both the 100m and 200m backstroke. In the former, the European Junior Championships finalist posted a time of 57.20. Splitting 27.90/29.30, Levterov’s time here was over a second off of his national record of 55.77 logged last week in Sofia.
Levterov also dominated the 200m backstroke here, producing a time of 2:02.12 for gold. Last week he set a new national record at 1:59.48, becoming the first Bulgarian ever to dip under the 2:00 threshold in the event.
Speedster Diana Petkova topped the women’s 100m breast in 1:10.54, while also edging out the women’s 50m free and 100m free fields. In the former free event, the 17-year-old hit a time of 25.78 while in the latter she got the wall first in 56.94.
Petkova was the women’s 50m breast winner as well, touching in 32.73 to earn another medal around her neck.
17-year-old Azra Yanak was within a second of her age record in the 100m fly, taking the top spot in 1:02.89. Last week in Sofia Yanak was as fast as 1:02.02 for the age mark.
The men’s 100m free saw Yordan Yanchev log a time of 50.30 for the men’s 100m free gold. The national record holder, Josif Miladinov, wasn’t swimming here this weekend.