BELGRADE, Serbia, July 9. THE third night of swimming at the European Long Course Junior Championships certainly had plenty of storylines. With one missed meet record, another set in semis, and a few more world-class times going on the scoreboard, Serbian fans had plenty to enjoy.
After Hungary's Bence Biczo turned in a 1:55.92 in semis, it appeared he would lower his meet record of 1:55.82 during finals. That would not be the case as Biczo settled for a victorious time of 1:56.25. He is currently ranked the second-fastest in the world with a 1:54.79 from last month. Only Takeshi Matsuda (1:54.12) has been faster this year. Russia's Andrey Tamovskiy finished second in 1:58.73, while Israel's Tom Kremer wound up third in 2:00.52.
Russia's Maria Temnikova hit the wall in 2:26.29 to win the women's 200 breast. That effort pushed her to 18th in the world rankings. Compatriot Irina Novikova placed a close second in 2:26.46, short of her 14th-ranked season best of 2:25.52 from April. Great Britain's Molly Renshaw checked in with a third-place 2:28.68.
Greece's Panagiotis Samilidis stopped the clock in 27.89 for the men's 50 breast triumph. That performance jumped him to 18th in the world rankings. Germany's Bastian Vollmer placed second in 28.52, while Russia's Oleg Utekhin touched third in 28.54.
Denmark's Mie Nielsen topped the women's 50 back in 28.81, while Great Britain's Lauren Quigley placed second in 28.93. Poland's Katarzyna Gorniak wound up third in 29.23. During semis, Quigley set the meet record in the sprint back with a 28.76. That swim eclipsed the 29.01 set by Emma Saunders last year.
Serbia's Velimir Stjepanovic captured the men's 100 free in 49.56, while Belarus' Arseni Kukharau finished second in 59.83. Latvia's Uvis Kalnins placed third overall in 50.18. Great Britain's Ieuan Lloyd won the men's 200 IM in 2:01.57, while teammate Dan Wallace finished second in 2:02.41. Greece's Andreas Vazajos earned third in 2:02.51.
Spain's Maria Vilas Vidal claimed the women's 1500 free in 16:32.68, while Italy's Giulia Gabbrielleschi took second in 16:37.94. Poland's Donata Kilijanska finished third in 16:38.90.
Great Britain's Thomas Moss, Matthew Parks, Myles Courch-Anderson and Ieuan Lloyd won the men's 800 free relay in 7:23.36. Russia (7:23.77) and Poland (7:24.07) rounded out the podium.
In other semifinal racing, Austria's Eva Chavez-Diaz paced the women's 200 free in 2:01.31, while Germany's Christian Diener clocked a top-seeded 2:01.56 in the men's 200 back. Germany's Alexandra Wenk and Russia's Daria Tovetkova tied in the women's 100 fly with matching 1:00.35s.