DEBRECEN, Hungary, May 23. THE third day of action opened up with a meet-record bang at the European Long Course Championships held in Debrecen, Hungary. Hometown hero Laszlo Cseh then kicked down another meet record later in the evening.
FINALS
Men's 1500 free
Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri dominated the men's metric mile with a time of 14:48.92. That performance pushed him to third in the world behind Sun Yang (14:42.30) and Tae Hwan Park (14:47.38), and took more than a second off the meet record. Yury Prilukov of Russia set the record back in 2008 with a 14:50.40. Paltrinieri came up just short of the Italian record of 14:48.28 set by Federico Colbertaldo at the 2009 World Championships.
Hungary's Gergo Kis (14:58.15) and Gergely Gyurta (15:04.38) rounded out the podium, much to the pleasure of the partisan crowd. Kis jumped to fifth in the world behind Daniel Fogg (14:55.30), while Gyurta jumped into the top 15 with his effort.
Italy's Samuel Pizzetti (15:09.23), France's Anthony Pannier (15:12.02), Germany's Jan Wolfgarten (15:13.68), Ukraine's Sergiy Frolov (15:13.99) and Germany's Soeren Meissner (15:19.50) also competed in the distance finale.
Men's 200 free
Germany's Paul Biedermann posted a season-best effort of 1:46.27 to win the men's 200 free this evening. That swim trumped his 1:46.70 clocked at German Nationals earlier this month, and pushed him past Danila Izotov (1:46.56) to fifth in the world rankings. Only Yannick Agnel (1:44.42), Michael Phelps (1:45.69), Takeshi Matsuda (1:45.96) and Sun Yang (1:46.05) have been faster thus far.
France's Amaury Leveaux raced to second in 1:47.69, well off his eighth-ranked season best of 1:46.72 set at French Nationals in March. Hungary's Dominik Kozma gave the host crowd another swimmer to cheer for on the podium with a bronze-winning time of 1:47.72. Kozma went faster in semis with a leading time of 1:47.59, after turning in a 23rd-ranked season best of 1:47.52 in prelims.
Germany's Tim Wallburger (1:47.75), Switerland's Dominik Meichtry (1:48.53), Russia's Viacheslav Andrusenko (1:49.34), Italy's Alex Di Giorgio (1:49.45) and Great Britain's Robbie Renwick (1:49.57) also vied for the continental crown.
Women's 100 breast
Germany's Sarah Poewe, who made her fourth Olympic team with her 1:07.70 from semis yesterday, made no doubt about her Olympic inclusion with a victorious time of 1:07.33. That effort jumped her to 12th in the world, and secured her second spot in Germany behind Caroline Ruhnau's 1:07.28 from German Nationals earlier this month.
Sweden's Jennie Johansson finished second in 1:07.85, off her semifinal 1:07.65 and her sixth-ranked season best of 1:07.10 set at British Trials in March. Spain's Marina Garcia Urzainqui rounded out the podium with a third-place time of 1:07.91 to crack the top 25.
Ruhnau (1:07.95), Ireland's Sycerika McMahon (1:08.72), Spain's Concepcion Badillo Diaz (1:08.76), Italy's Chiara Boggiatto (1:08.82) and Czech's Martina Moravcikova (1:08.87) finished fourth through eighth to comprise the rest of the finale.
Women's 100 free
In an epic head-to-head duel, Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom upended Germany's Britta Steffen, 53.61 to 54.15, for the sprint victory. Sjostrom came close to her second-ranked season best of 53.29 from Eindhoven in April, while Steffen fell well off her fourth-ranked season best of 53.65 from German Nationals earlier this month. Germany's Daniela Schreiber clinched third-place honors in 54.41.
Italy's Alice Mizzau (55.03), Greece's Nery-Mantey Niangkouara (55.17), Sweden's Gabriella Fagundez (55.51), Finland's Hanna-Maria Seppala (55.68) and Serbia's Miroslava Najdanovski (56.31) completed the rest of the finale field.
Men's 200 IM
Hungary's Laszlo Cseh posted the second meet record of the evening with a scorching time of 1:56.66. That time nearly pushed him to the top of the world rankings, behind only Michael Phelps' 1:56.32 from the Indy Grand Prix in March. He smashed his previous record of 1:57.73 set in Budapest in 2010, and leapfrogged Thiago Pereira (1:57.11) and Ryan Lochte (1:57.63) in the world rankings.
Great Britain's James Goddard earned silver with a 1:57.84 to move to sixth in the world rankings, ahead of Joseph Roebuck (1:58.16) as the top time out of his nation this year. Austria's Markus Rogan finished third in 1:59.39 to earn 21st in the world.
Israel's Gal Nevo (1:59.74), Sweden's Simon Sjodin (2:00.70), Hungary's David Verraszto (2:01.70), Lithuania's Vytautas Janusaitis (2:02.08) and Italy's Federico Turrini (2:02.50) placed fourth through eighth in the finale.
SEMIFINALS
Hungary's Daniel Gyurta cruised to the top seed in the men's 200 breast in 2:10.06, moving from 17th in the world to 10th with his efforts. Germany's Marco Koch placed second in 2:10.92, well off his season best of 2:09.48 from German Nationals earlier this month that placed his fourth in the rankings. Greece's Panagiotis Samilidis took the third seed with a 2:11.53, off his 12th-ranked 2:10.61 from prelims this morning.
After leading prelims with a 2:11.10 to move to eighth in the world rankings this year, crowd favorite Katinka Hosszu eased through semis with a 2:11.89 for the top seed in the finale. Sweden's Stina Gardell raced to second in 2:12.29 for 17th in the world rankings, while Hungary's Evelyn Verraszto picked up the third seed in 2:12.67. Germany's Theresa Michalak also cleared 2:13 with a fourth-seeded 2:12.76.
Hungary's Bence Biczo smashed the semifinal round with a crowd-powered time of 1:55.77. That swim vaulted him to seventh in the world rankings, cutting time off his previously 13th-ranked season best of 1:56.33 from Hungarian Nationals in March. Serbia's Velimir Stjepanovic raced to second in the event with a 1:56.84, off his 13th-ranked season best of 1:56.18 from British Trials in March. Austria's Dinko Jukic rounded out the top three in 1:57.02 with Italy's Francesco Pavone qualifying fourth in 1:57.05.
Ukraine's Daryna Zevina topped the semifinal rounds of the women's 100 back with a 1:00.45, moving to 18th in the world with her swim. France's Alexianne Castel touched in 1:00.48 out of the first semifinal round to earn the second seed. Castel has more left in the tank with a 1:00.34 season best from French Nationals in March. Italy's Arianna Barbieri (1:00.52) and Spain's Duane Da Rocha Marce (1:00.56) earned third and fourth seeds, while Germany's Jenny Mensing (1:00.58) and Czech's Simona Baumrtova (1:00.88) also cleared 1:01 to make the finale.
Israel's Jonatan Kopelev put up a strong time in the men's 50 back with a 24.98, pushing him from eighth in the world to sixth in the sprint back. Italy's Mirco Di Tora finished second in semis with a 25.23, while Israel's Guy Barnea tied Greece's Aristeidis Grigoriadis for third with matching 25.29s.
In preliminary competition, Coralie Balmy topped the women's 800 free in 8:32.45, while Hungary's Eva Risztov posted an 8:33.44 for the second seed. Spain's Melanie Costa Schmid (8:34.00) and Erika Villaecija Garcia (8:36.07) picked up third and fourth.