By Craig Lord
ANTWERP, Belgium, Dec. 16. MARTINA Moravcova, trained in the US and racing for Slovakia, stole the show on the final day of the European Short Course Championships with a fifth successive victory in the 200m freestyle. Her longing for longevity and determination to keep the 200 meters her sole preserve was topped only by the European record of 1:54.74 she set.
The time was just 0.58sec outside Claudia Poll's world record but inside her own European standard, set in 1998, by 0.38sec.
Within half an hour she was back in the water winning the 100m butterfly title in a championship record of 57.20, 0.34sec inside the time which brought her the same title a year ago in valencia but just 0.04sec shy of her own European record. That triumph took to 12 her tally of European Short Course titles since the inaugural competition in 1996, more than any other swimmer.
If Moravcova appears to go from strength to strength, it is no longer so for other stalwarts of the European circuit. It has not, for instance, been a good week in the illustrious career of Yana Klochkova, of Ukraine.
Having lost the 400m freestyle title to 16-year-old Anja Carnan on Saturday, Sunday brought defeat over 400m medley for the world and Olympic champion.
The victor was Nicole Hetzer, the 22-year-old German, whose 4:29.46 effort sliced 1.85sec off the European record set by Romanian Noemi Lung back in 1987, and was just 0.46sec shy of the world record held since 1993 by the long-disappeared and never-to-be-heard-of again Dai Guohong, of China.
Hetzer was back in action within the hour to take the silver medal in the 200m backstroke in 2:06.65, a time which in any other year would have won the title comfortably. Hetzer's improved form could not cope,
however, with Britain's Sarah Price, who clocked a championship record of 2:04.59, just 0.15sec shy of her European record, which when set, back in August, was a world record. Natalie Coughlin, of the US, put paid to that in 2:03.62 two weeks ago but Price is headed for the South African Short Course Championships in January with hope in her heart of recapturing the honor from Coughlin.
She may well succeed given that her victory in Antwerp came off the back of a heats time of 2:05.12 after Britain's performance director, Australian Bill Sweetenham, insisted she took the heats out hard, refused her a post or pre-race massage and declared the less than optimum race conditions all a worthy part of the toughening up process by which he aims to have British swimming competing properly with the best in the world come the next Olympic Games.
A man with Olympic success already behind him, Pieter Van Den Hoogenband, celebrated a European short course record for 200 meters freestyle of 1:42.46 in an ecstatic and jubilant fashion by punching the air and bowing to the large Dutch supporters club celebrating their hero from the stands.
The Olympic 200m champion's time was 1.18sec inside the standard that had stood to Italian Giorgio Lamberti since 1990.
Though the jubilation was a show of strength in a field that could not live in the Dutchman's world, it is another world that provides Van Den Hoogenband with a reality check; Ian Thorpe's 1:41.10 second world record – another planet.
Thomas Rupprath's attempt on the world record over 100m backstroke resulted in victory for the German but the only record he got with a time of 50.99 seconds was a championship standard that was well inside the 52.28sec set by Iceland's Orn Arnarson last year.
The sprint events of the final day of action saw championship records fall: the men's 50m butterfly going to Lars Frolander, of Sweden, in 23.07, ahead of Mark Foster's 23.11, while Inge de Bruijn ploughed to
a 23.89 second victory over Therese Alshammar, 24.09, the Swede whose superior technique suggests that she would beat her arch rival if only she had a touch more meat on her ams to match de Bruijn's fat-free musculature.
The European Team Trophy went to Germany, while Martina Moravcova and Stefan Nystrand received the best performance awards and the best newcomer trophies went to Britain's Robin Francis for the 400m medley and Slovenia's Anja Carnan for her victory in the 400m freestyle over Klochkova.
European Short Course Swimming Championships
Antwerp, Belgium
DAY FOUR: Dec. 16, 2001
25 meter pool
RESULTS
Women's 400 meter individual medley
1. Nicole Hetzer (GER) 4:29.46 ER
2. Yana Klochkova (UKR) 4:31.31
3. Alenka Kejzar (SLO) 4:33.46
4. Sabine Klenz (GER) 4:40.70
5. Federica Biscia (ITA) 4:42.86
6. Hana Netrefova (CZE) 4:43.58
7. Rebecca Cooke (GBR) 4:45.04
Sara Nordenstam (SWE) DQ
Women's 200 meter freestyle
1. Martina Moravcova (SVK) 1:54.74 ER
2. Solenne Figues (FRA) 1:55.83
3. Alessa Ries (GER) 1:57.34
4. Nicola Jackson (GBR) 1:58.13
5. Mette Jacobsen (DEN) 1:58.18
6. Nina Van Koeckhoven (BEL) 1:58.32
7. Julie Hjorth-Hansen (DEN) 1:58.79
8. Nicole Zahnd (SUI) 1:59.35
Women's 100 meter breaststroke
1. Anne Poleska (GER) 1:07.25
2. Mirna Jukic (AUT) 1:07.59
3. Heidi Earp (GBR) 1:08.25
4. Brigitte Becue (BEL) 1:08.58
5. Madelon Baans (NED) 1:08.66
6. Kirsty Balfour (GBR) 1:08.69
7. Natalia Hissamutdinova (EST) 1:09.17
8. Agnieszka Braszkiewicz (POL) 1:09.63
Women's 100 meter butterfly
1. Martina Moravcova (SVK) 57.20
2. Johanna Sjoeberg (SWE) 57.79
3. Anna-Karin Kammerling (SWE) 57.98
4. Mette Jacobsen (DEN) 59.18
5. Otylia Jedrzejczak (POL) 59.31
6. Sophia Skou (DEN) 59.65
7. Natalia Soutiaguina (RUS) 59.84
8. Nicola Jackson (GBR) 1:00.30
Women's 200 meter backstroke
1. Sarah Price (GBR) 2:04.59
2. Nicole Hetzer (GER) 2:06.65
3. Anu Koivisto (FIN) 2:07.10
4. Louise Ornstedt (DEN) 2:09.18
5. Aleksandra Miciul (POL) 2:09.58
6. Roxana Maracineanu (FRA) 2:10.26
7. Anja Carnan (SLO) 2:10.71
8. Louise Coull (GBR) 2:12.53
Women's 50 meter freestyle
1. Inge De Bruijn (NED) 23.89
2. Therese Alshammar (SWE) 24.09
3. Johanna Sjoeberg (SWE) 24.61
4. Jana Kolukanova (EST) 24.98
5. Hanna-Maria Seppala (FIN) 25.04
5. Judith Draxler (AUT) 25.04
7. Ilona Hlavackova (CZE) 25.13
8. Petra Dallman (GER) 25.24
Men's 200 meter breaststroke
1. Maxim Podoprigora (AUT) 2:07.79
2. Ian Edmond (GBR) 2:08.03
3. Daniel Malek (CZE) 2:09.07
4. Martin Gustavsson (SWE) 2:09.48
5. Jose Couto (POR) 2:09.98
6. Jakob Johann Sveinsson (ISL) 2:10.47
7. Jarno Pihlava (FIN) 2:10.93
Davide Rummolo (Italy) DQ
Men's 100 meter individual medley
1. Peter Mankoc (SLO) 52.94
(52.63sf WR)
2. Jens Kruppa (GER) 54.10
3. Jani Sievinen (FIN) 54.17
4. Lionel Moreau (FRA) 54.37
5. Jirka Letzin (GER) 54.68
6. Erik Dorch (SWE) 54.74
7. Sergiy Sergeyev (UKR) 55.32
8. Lorenz Liechti (SUI) 55.35
Men's 200 meter freestyle
1. Pieter van den Hoogenband (NED) 1:42.46 ER
2. Kvetoslav Svodoba (CZE) 1:44.78
3. Stefan Herbst (GER) 1:45.32
4. Romain Barnier (FRA) 1:45.45
5. Lars Conrad (GER) 1:45.57
6. Andrea Beccari (ITA) 1:45.59
7. Jacob Carstensen (DEN) 1:46.72
8. Saulius Binevicius (LTU) 1:46.86
Men's 100 meter backstroke
1. Thomas Rupprath (GER) 50.99
2. Stev Theloke (GER) 51.92
3. Gregor Tait (GBR) 52.90
4. Gordan Kozulj (CRO) 53.05
5. Darius Grigalionis (LTU) 53.12
6. Blaz Medvesek (SLO) 53.46
7. Volodymyr Nikolaychuk (UKR) 53.57
8. Vladislav Aminov (RUS) 53.81
Men's 50 meter butterfly
1. Lars Frolander (SWE) 23.07
2. Mark Foster (GBR) 23.11
3. Tero Valimaa (FIN) 23.59
4. Joris Keizer (NED) 23.61
5. Igor Martchenko (RUS) 23.71
6. Pavel Lagoun (BLR) 23.74
7. Ewout Holst (NED) 23.77
8. Jorge Luis Ulibarri (ESP) 23.93
Men's 4 x 50 meter freestyle relay
1. Ukraine (Denys Sylantyev, Olexandr Volinets, Oleg Lisogor, Vyacheslav Shyrshov) 1:26.09 ER
2. Netherlands (Johan Kenkhuis, Gys Damen, Ewout Holst, Pieter van den Hoogenband) 1:26.32
3. Sweden (Erik Dorch, Stefan Nystrand, Lars Froelander, Jonas Tilly) 1:26.77
4. France (Romain Barnier, Julien Sicot, Frederic Dutillieux, Hugo Viart) 1:27.23
5. Germany (Thomas Rupprath, Lars Conrad, Carsten Dehmlow, Jens Thiele) 1:27.26
6. Russia (Leonid Khoklov, Dmitri Talepov, Vladislav Aminov, Igor Martchenko) 1:28.41
7. Croatia (Duje Draganja, Marijan Kanjer, Igor Cerensek, Ales Volcansek) 1:28.59
8. Finland (Jani Sievinen, Tero Raty, Tero Valimaa, Juha Lindfors) 1:29.45
Medal Count
Gold Silver Bronze Points*
1. Germany 8 9 5 72
2. Sweden 7 4 6 53
3. Ukraine 4 4 – 32
4. Netherlands 3 3 2 26
5. Slovenia 3 2 3 24
6. Slovakia 3 1 – 18
7. Britain 2 5 5 30
8. Czech Republic 2 1 2 15
9. Italy 2 – 1 11
10. Austria 1 2 1 12
11. Croatia 1 1 1 09
12. Poland 1 – – 05
12. Switzerland 1 – – 05
14. Finland – 2 3 09
15. Russia – 1 5 08
16. France – 1 3 06
17. Denmark – 1 2 05
18. Israel – 1 – 03
*: Scoring based on 5 points for a gold medal, 3 points for a silver medal, 1 point for a bronze medal