LUXEMBOURG CITY, LUXEMBOURG, Jan. 25. AMERICAN Mark Liscinsky, a stalwart
member of the Curl-Burke club in suburban Baltimore, won gold and set a
meet-record en route to victory in the 200 meter individual medley (lc) on
Day 2 of the 6th Euro Meet 2004 here last night.
A former coillegiate All-America at American University where he still holds school and Patriot League records in the 200 freestyle-backstroke and IMs, Liscinsky edged Germany's Lukas Wojtl, 2:04.53-2:04.85. The outcome reversed the finish in Friday's 400 IM, where the former took home the gold in 4:25.33 to Liscinsky's 4:25.66.
Liscinsky's career-best in the shorter medley is 2:02.99 from the 2002
Nationals in Ft. Lauderdale and in the 200 back — which he'll swim
today — his pr is a 2:01.91, also from Lauderdale.
Teammate Elizabeth Kemp, a promising 16-year-old, was a finalist in the 200 butterfly, clocking 2:21.71. Germany's Annika Melhorn won in a meet-record 2:14.72 and last evening scored her second victory with a win in the 200 IM.
A trio of other Germans scored golds and splashed to three meet records
Saturday. Veteran sprinter Stephen Kunzelman, 26, raced to a pr 22.60 in the 50m free, improving his career-best by a cool .30 to edge Ukraine's
Vyachaslov Shryshov (22.66). Backstroker Steffen Driesen, who swam a national record 54.17 100 at the World Championships (second-fastest all-time European) won the 100 (55.96); and 22-year-old Jens Schreiber won the 200 free in a pr 1:49.19.
Schreiber ranked 88th globally last year (1:51+). Had he swum that 1:49.19 in '03, he would have finished the season at the No. 19 spot on the world list.
Former Southern Methodist University All-America/NCAA champ Flavia Rigamonti of Switzerland set a meet record Friday en route to gold in the 800 free (8:34.88). Her best — a Swiss record — is 8:25.71 from the Sydney Olympics and she was silver-medalist in the 1500 free at the '01 World Championships in Fukuoka.
Rigamonti was expected to contend for podium finishes at Barcelona but a
bicycle accident shortly before the meet ended her summer prematurely. She's apparently recovered and is hoping to finally win Switzerland's first Olympic aquatic gold at Athens in less than eight months.
The Czech Republic's 28-year-old "graybeard" Sandra Katzkova swam a pr 25.95 to edge Holland's rapidly improving 20-year-old Hinkelien Schreuder (25.97) in the 50 free with Luxembourg's Lara Heinzl touching in a pr/NR 26.41 for the bronze. Slovenia's Emil Taharovic won the 50 breast by .01
(28.78 – 28.79) over Sweden's Martin Gustavsson, a former Big 10 champ for
Coach Dennis Dale's University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. His
countrywoman, Josefin Wiede, set a meet record and pr 2:32.31 in the 200
breast.
Holland's Madelin Baans won a gold and a silver, taking the 50 breast
(32.50) and finishing runner-up in the 200, and teammate Inge Dekker won the 50 fly (27.62) with Schreuder taking her second No. 2 (27.85).
The meet concludes toda with the stroke 200s, the 100 free and the 50 back.