BUDAPEST, Hungary, August 14. SEVERAL more world bests went into the rankings during the penultimate night of competition at the European Long Course Championships.
Finals
Women's 1500 free
Denmark's Lotte Friis went out fast, under European record pace through the first 450 meters, but wound up settling for the win in 15:59.13 – less than a second behind Flavia Rigamonti's meet record of 15:58.54 set in 2008. She became the first woman under 16:00 this year, trumping Melissa Gorman's previously top-ranked time of 16:03.24.
Ireland's Grainne Murphy moved to second in the world with a second-place time of 16:02.29, while Spain's Erika Villaecija Garcia grabbed third-place honors in 16:05.08 to move to fourth in the world.
Romania's Camelia Alina Potec (16:17.67), Greece's Marianna Lymperta (16:20.19), Austria's Nina Dittrich (16:23.63), Slovenia's Tjasa Oder (16:23.70) and Germany's Isabelle Haerle (16:24.45) also swam in the finale.
Men's 100 fly
Russia's Evgeny Korotyshkin cleared the meet record in the event with a strong time of 51.73. He beat the 51.89 record he shared with Andriy Serdinov, but came up just short of his second-ranked season best of 51.70 set at Russian Nationals in May.
The Netherlands' Joeri Verlinden placed second in 51.82 to move to fourth in the world behind Michael Phelps (50.65), Korotyshkin and Andrew Lauterstein (51.79). Poland's Konrad Czerniak finished third overall this evening with a 52.16.
Sweden's Lars Frolander (52.24), Russia's Nikolay Skvortsov (52.25), Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski (52.38), Slovenia's Peter Mankoc (52.39) and Great Britain's Antony James (52.67) finished fourth through eighth in the final heat.
Women's 200 free
Italy's Federica Pellegrini became the first woman this year under 1:56 with a meet-record time of 1:55.45. She crushed her previous meet record of 1:56.53 set during earlier heats, and far surpassed her previously top-ranked time of 1:56.23 set at the Italian Nationals in April.
Germany's Silke Lippok snatched second-place honors with a time of 1:56.98 to move to fifth in the world, while Hungary's Agnes Mutina earned third place overall in 1:57.12, just clearing her season-best time of 1:57.19 for sixth in the world.
France's Camille Muffat (1:57.58), Hungary's Evelyn Verraszto (1:57.90), Spain's Patricia Castro Ortega (1:58.29), The Netherlands' Femke Heemskerk (1:58.46) and France's Coralie Balmy (1:58.78) rounded out the finale.
Women's 50 back
Belarus' Aliaksandra Herasimenia cruised to a meet record and top-ranked time in the sprint back with a 27.64. She jumped ahead of Gao Chang and Zhao Jing's shared top-ranked time of 27.72, while also erasing her meet record of 27.98 set earlier this meet.
Germany's Daniela Samulski also broke 28 seconds with a second-place 27.99 to move to fifth in the world. Spain's Mercedes Peris Minguet took third place with a 28.01, while The Netherlands' Hinkelien Schreuder earned fourth in 28.36.
Greece's Theodora Drakou (28.61), Norway's Ingvild Snildal (28.69), Ukraine's Alina Vats and Italy's Elena Gemo (28.81) completed the championship field.
Men's 200 back
In an exciting finish, Russia's Stanislav Donets captured the title in 1:57.18. Austria's Markus Rogan touched just behind with a 1:57.31, while France's Benjamin Stasiulis earned third place with a 1:57.37. Poland's Radoslaw Kawecki also finished in the 1:57s with a fourth-place 1:57.45.
Italy's Sebastiano Ranfagni (1:58.40), The Netherlands' Nick Driebergen (1:58.59), Germany's Yannick Lebherz (1:58.87) and France's Eric Ress (2:00.05) garnered fifth through eighth place.
Men's 50 breast
Italy's Fabio Scozzoli raced to victory in the sprint breast with a time of 27.38. That performance moved him to third in the world this year behind Kosuke Kitajima (27.30) and Damir Dugonjic (27.37). Romania's Dragos Agache finished second in 27.47, while The Netherlands' Lennart Stekelenburg took third in 27.51.
Norway's Alexander Dale Oen (27.55), The Netherlands' Robin van Aggele (27.66) and Slovenia's Emil Tahirovic (27.76) touched fourth through sixth, while Dugonjic wound up seventh in 27.80. Ireland's Barry Murphy finished eighth in 27.99.
Men's 800 free relay
Germany's Paul Biedermann charted the fastest men's 200 free in the world this year with a 1:45.47 as his team's leadoff leg. He cleared the 1:45.61 charted by Michael Phelps at the U.S. Nationals earlier this month. France's Yannick Agnel (1:45.83) and Russia's Nikita Lobintsev (1:45.93) also posted times in the 1:45 as leadoffs. Only one other man has been under 1:46 this year, Ryan Lochte with a 1:45.78 to finish second to Phelps.
Russia's Lobintsev, Daniil Izotov, Sergey Perunin and Alexander Sukhorukov won the relay competition with a meet record of 7:06.71, crushing the previous standard of 7:09.60 set by Italy back in 2006.
Germany's Biedermann, Tim Wallburger, Robin Backhaus and Clemens Rapp placed second in 7:08.13, while France's Agnel, Clement Lefert, Antton Haramboure and Jeremy Stravius finished third in 7:09.70.
Izotov had a strong relay-start leg with a 1:45.74, while Stravius posted the fastest split with a 1:45.44.
Great Britain (7:11.00), Italy (7:14.50), The Netherlands (7:16.87), Belgium (7:19.96) and Poland (7:22.71) completed the championship field.
Semifinals
Women's 50 breast
Russia's Yuliya Efimova downed her meet record in the sprint breast with a swift time of 30.32. That effort erased her record from prelims of 30.54, and nipped her previously top-ranked time of 30.35 set on the Mare Nostrum circuit in June.
Great Britain's Kate Haywood finished second in qualifying with a 31.24 to improve her ninth-ranked position this year. The Netherlands' Moniek Nijhuis took third in 31.25.
Sweden's Jennie Johansson (31.40), Belgium's Kim Janssens (31.55), Germany's Caroline Ruhnau (31.63), Sweden's Rebecca Ejdervik (31.77) and Russia's Valentina Artemyeva (31.81) also made the finale.
Men's 50 free
France's Fred Bousquet blazed through the men's splash-and-dash with a world-best effort of 21.36. He wiped out compatriot Alain Bernard's meet record of 21.50 set in 2008, and eclipsed Cesar Cielo's previously top-ranked time of 21.55 from the Paris Open in June.
France's Fabien Gilot picked up the second seed with a 21.75 to improve upon his fourth-ranked season best of 21.83. Sweden's Stefan Nystrand (21.80) and Russia's Andrey Grechin (21.98) also cleared 22 seconds for third and fourth place.
Italy's Luca Dotto (22.14), Great Britain's Simon Burnett (22.16) and Italy's Marco Orsi (22.20) placed fifth through seventh, while Germany's Steffen Deibler and Hungary's Krisztian Takacs set up a swimoff with matching 22.27s for eighth. Deibler won the swimoff, 21.99 to 22.12.
Women's 200 fly
Hungary's Katinka Hosszu turned in a 2:07.92 for the top seed in the semi heats. She jumped into ninth in the world with the effort, up from 14th. Great Britain's Ellen Gandy finished second in 2:08.01, while Hungary's Zsuzsanna Jakabos placed third in 2:08.18.
Italy's Caterina Giacchetti (2:08.87), Germany's Franziska Hentke (2:08.95), Slovenia's Anja Klinar (2:09.11), France's Aurore Mongel (2:09.23) and Spain's Mireia Belmonte Garcia (2:09.25) grabbed the other transfer spots into the finale.
Women's 50 free
Sweden's Therese Alshammar, who already has the fastest time in the world this year with a 24.27, cruised in the semifinal round with a top-seeded 24.52. Germany's Dorothea Brandt finished second in 24.64, while The Netherlands' Hinkelien Schreuder took third in 24.69.
Great Britain's Fran Halsall (24.70), Belarus' Aliaksandra Herasimenia (24.80), Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen (25.01), Estonia's Triin Aljand (25.12) and Ukraine's Oxana Serikova (25.31) earned the other lanes in the final.
The women's 50 free definitely missed some star power this year with Britta Steffen and Ranomi Kromowidjojo both out this year.